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Technicalities

Stephen Harper, Nov. 23, 2008. Canada faces the prospect of falling into a “technical recession” and Ottawa might have to take unprecedented actions to stimulate the faltering economy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Sunday. “The most recent private sector forecasts suggest the strong possibility of a technical recession the end of this year, the beginning of next,” Harper told a news conference at the conclusion of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Peru. “Yes, I am surprised at this. I’m also further surprised, more importantly, by deflationary pressure that we’re seeing around the world. This is a worrying development, one of the reasons why it may well be necessary to take unprecedented fiscal stimulus.”

Stephen Harper, Sept. 21, 2009The recession in Canada is only over in a technical sense because the recovery is extremely fragile and there are still problems in the job market, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Monday. “We’ve got (Federal Reserve) Chairman (Ben) Bernanke and others saying the recession is over but I think that’s only in a technical sense,” Mr. Harper told a televised news conference in Guelph, Ont. “As long as we continue to have challenges in the labor market that affect Canadian families on the ground, then I don’t think we can truly say the recession is over. So I think the recovery, while it exists, is extremely fragile.”

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