Conservative leader offers help to administration

Ambrose open to cooperation with Liberals on economic issues

The Liberal Trudeau administration, which has yet to finish its first year, is not prepared to address the mauling that the Canadian economy has suffered in the past few years.
 
This according to Interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose, who on Monday (January 18) offered an olive branch to her party’s bitter rivals in a bid to help improve the country’s battered fiscal state.
 
“I'm asking [Trudeau] to meet because I want to offer him my support to work with the government … to discuss what is the rapidly deteriorating economic situation in Canada,” Ambrose said in a speech, as quoted by CBC News.
 
While both parties have major—even incompatible—differences in matters of policy, Ambrose said that she and her group are willing to assist the government in drafting a strong plan of action and in expediting the creation of a working budget, amid a backdrop of continuous oil price crashes and an ever-weakening petro-currency.
 
On his part, Trudeau said that he is open to discussions with Ambrose, while maintaining that Conservative policies—which have been blamed by various quarters for the current crisis—have no place in the new government.
 
“For 10 years we've had a government that has been focused on cutting its way into balance and not focused on the kind of growth that Canadians need,” Trudeau said.
 
Observers said that the Canadian economy is on its 10th consecutive year of underperforming, with the current context of low commodity prices pointing to more difficult years ahead. According to Trudeau, one of his main projects is stimulating greater dynamism in the job market.
 
“Our finance minister is working very, very hard, along with our other colleagues, to ensure that the budget we put forward is the one that is going to create the kind of growth that Canadians expect and deserve,” Trudeau said.