Flaherty rejects recession fears as economy shrinks in quarter

[daleo]

OTTAWA — Canada's economy contracted in the first quarter of the year, the first time in five years that the country's output shrank outright, raising the spectre of a recession. But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty quickly dismissed such fears.

Real gross domestic product declined a harsh 0.3 per cent at an annualized rate, Statistics Canada said Friday, exposing an economy far weaker than economists' projections of 0.5 per cent growth in the first three months of the year.

“This is a bitterly disappointing and surprising result,” Dale Orr, chief economist for forecasting firm Global Insight Canada, said in a note to clients.

In Montreal, Mr. Flaherty rejected talk of a recession.

...

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080530.wgdp0530/BNStory/Business/home
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tory times are hard times.