Cabinet Ministers Differ on Whether Recession Is Actually Over

(The Canadian Press)

Conservative cabinet ministers aren’t all singing from the same songbook when it comes to the recession.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Tuesday he’s not ready to declare the recession over, as the governor of the Bank of Canada did last week. But Trade Minister Stockwell Day supported the bank’s analysis in a newspaper column Monday.

“I’m not kidding. The recession is over,” Day wrote in the Penticton Western News on Monday. “Last week, after poring over all the numbers (Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney) was able to declare, not on whim but based on economic fact that the nasty ‘R’ word no longer applied to Canada.” Day added Canada still faces challenges but the economy is showing initial signs of recovery. Read more here.

Related: Correspondence from John McCallum to Jim Flaherty.