Budget details usually remain a closely guarded secret, but a day after disclosing how big a deficit Canadians can expect over the next two years, Conservative MPs began revealing how some of the money will be spent. With the state of the Canadian economy slipping, the Conservative government is trying to get the bad news about the deficit out of the way so that it doesn't overshadow the good news in next Tuesdays' reading of the federal budget.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told a Toronto audience that the prime minister was not playing by the rules when he chose to leak parts of the budget at his convenience. Ignatieff said the release of budget information "was irresponsible and costly to our economy."
US President Barack Obama phoned Harper early Friday, along with the leaders of two other close US allies - Britain and Saudi Arabia. They discussed the agenda for Obama's upcoming trip to Canada - his first international foray as president - as well as energy, the environment and the war in Afghanistan.
Canada is the largest supplier of foreign energy to the United States and the Harper government is hoping to mesh its environmental policies to those of the new US president. Also Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon spoke by phone with his new US counterpart, Hillary Clinton.
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