Canada's government announces stimulus package

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Canada's Conservative government unveiled a $32 billion stimulus package that includes spending for infrastructure and tax cuts. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Tuesday there will be $9.8 million for infrastructure over the next two years. Flaherty is predicting a deficit in Canada for the first time in more than a decade. New Liberal Party head Michael Ignatieff has yet to say whether he'll support the budget. The opposition Liberals had vowed to use a parliamentary confidence vote to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority government if the package fell short. The credit crisis and the global sell-off of commodities have started to hit Canada hard. The country lost more than 100,000 jobs in the last two months of 2008, and the central bank is predicting economic output will contract 4.8 percent in the first quarter.