Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page delivered more bad news about the Canadian economy Wednesday, saying the GDP will drop 8.5 per cent this quarter -- the biggest decline in at least four decades.
"What we are seeing right now is absolutely historic in terms of the quality of quarter-to-quarter declines," he told the House of Commons finance committee. "The premium should be getting the stimulus implemented."
By comparison, the Bank of Canada has said the GDP will fall 3.5 per cent.
Page, who is Canada's independent economic watchdog and was appointed by the prime minister last year, has been heavily criticized by Conservative MPs for his dire predictions.
Tory MP Mike Wallace, a committee member, even asked Page, a long-time civil servant who chooses his words carefully, why he was giving such bad news.
"Is there any reason why you only show the negatives and not where Canadian is doing better?" he asked.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, whose department has not given Page access to the same raw data given to the Bank of Canada in the past, seemed to dismiss his latest findings.
"He's expressing opinions, is he? A lot of economists are expressing opinions," he said.
On January 27, Flaherty said Canada could expect a deficit of about $33.7 billion for the 2009-2010 fiscal year. On Wednesday, Page said it would likely be around $38 billion. And for the next fiscal year, Page said the deficit would be about $35 billion, compared to Flaherty's estimate of $29.8 billion.
Also on Wednesday, Page said about 380,000 jobs would be lost by June. Flaherty had said the economic stimulus would save or create 190,000 jobs over two years. But in the first two months of this year, before any stimulus money had been spent, 212,000 jobs were lost.
NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair said the government should pay close attention to what Page has to say.
"Mr. Page is making dire predictions," he said. "The worst part is that he is always right."
Page's last series of forecasts appear to be accurate, including his last deficit prediction. But in the future, he may have a more difficult time carrying out his Parliamentary duties -- the government has said it will slash his office budget by more than $1 million.
With a report by CTV's Robert Fife and files from The Canadian Press
