$4B in Budget Cuts? NBD, says Flaherty

With the new budget released, the finance minister says finding ways to roll back government spending shouldn't be too hard.

The federal goverment's plan to trim $4 billion annually from the nation's budget is “no big deal,” according to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. That $4 billion is five per cent of $80 billion in government spending that will go under the Tories' microscope as they look for ways to rein in spending. Flaherty defended the proposed cuts as something private companies have to do all the time, and stressed that the government wouldn't ape the slash-and-burn mentality of the Ontario Progressive Conservative government under Mike Harris, in which both Flaherty and Treasury Board President Tony Clement were cabinet ministers.