Federal Budget 2009: A Stimulating Budget In Uncertain Economic Times

In the midst of a deteriorating economic climate, on the heels of another inconclusive federal election, and following an extraordinary Parliamentary crisis that included the replacement of the Opposition Liberal Party leader, the political context and consequences of the 2009 Budget are as much the focus as its content.

After the 2008 election returned Stephen Harper's Conservative Party to power with an increased minority government, all eyes were focused on the federal government's response to a weakening global economic situation. The successful Conservative election campaign was based in large part on the premise that Canada's economy would weather the pending economic storm. The government asserted that the country was better positioned to face the collapse of the global financial system than other nations, and that there was little risk of returning the country's finances to deficit after a decade of surpluses.