REACTIONS

“We will not waver from our commitment to create jobs and fill jobs for Canadians. We will not spend recklessly.”

— JIM FLAHERTY

Finance Minister “Our spending in the government of Canada has essentially flat-lined. The spending control is

in place. We have a proven track record in controlling our own spending.”

— JIM FLAHERTY

Finance Minister “You cannot austere your way out of a crisis.

This is what Mr. Flaherty is attempting to do.”

— TOM MULCAIR NDP Leader who was dismissive of the proposed skills-training program, saying it’s merely an attempt by the Harper government to take money it normally sends to provinces and slap a “maple leaf ” on it to get credit.

“It is primarily an exercise in propaganda and rhetoric.”

— BOB RAE The interim Liberal Leader who said there is nothing substantive

in the budget. “This is an economic sabotage exercise. It’s worse than being abandoned. If they’d simply left us alone, we’d have been happy enough, but they didn’t even do that. They’re not leaving us alone — they’re attacking us.”

— NICOLAS MARCEAU

Quebec Finance Minister Nicolas Marceau, who was particularly upset over the elimination of the tax credit for union venture-capital funds, which are an extremely popular investment vehicle in the province. “They don’t want to give away the farm before they balance the

budget.”

— GREGORY THOMAS Federal director of the Canadian Tax payers Federation , who would rather see across-theboard tax cuts for all Canadians instead of boutique tax credits. “There are elements in this budget — particularly in the area of skills and training — that appear to remove much of the flexibility we need to adapt federal funding to meet the specific needs of the Ontario economy and

labour market.”

— CHARLES SOUSA

Minister of Finance for Ontario, in a statement. National Post news services