OTTAWA—Canadians could be in for some tough economic times in 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is warning in a year-end interview with CTV.
“We have some major challenges in front of us,” Harper says to anchor Lisa LaFlamme in the interview, to be broadcast Monday at 7 p.m.
The Prime Minister makes repeated mention of hard economic decisions looming on the budget horizon and the lingering concern over how global insecurity is going to affect Canada.
“There’s going to be a whole range of areas where this government’s going to be taking issues over the next year to secure the sustainability of our key programs,” Harper says, “not just in terms of reducing the deficit but for our generation to come, and at the same time making some major reforms in various areas, so that we can continue to grow this economy and attract the capital that will create jobs for people.”
On immigration policy, for instance, Harper says his government is looking at reforms that will help immigrants make more of a contribution to Canada’s economic growth.
“We’re also going to try and find ways that we can make our immigration policy more activist in nature,” Harper says.
“But we’ve got to do more in the economy of the future than just passively accept applications. We have to recruit people to come to this country, particularly when there are specific skill shortages that are developing, and that’s what we’re going to do as a government.”
Harper tells LaFlamme that Canadians are probably wise to be wary about economic insecurity, given the forecast for the year ahead.
“The next year will be a very challenging year for the global economy and therefore the economy of this country,” Harper says. “But as I say, we’ve got a lot of opportunities in Canada that others don’t have and we’re going to do what we can in the next year to position this country to take advantage of those opportunities.”
The Prime Minister reaches this year-end interview with eight months of majority government under his belt, but he makes clear to LaFlamme that he doesn’t intend to become complacent with power.
“You know, I’ve seen too many majority governments (in which) bureaucracy talks them into going to sleep for three years and then they all of a sudden realize they’re close to an election,” he says. “So we’ve tried to keep busy and we’re going to try and keep busy through the whole four years.”
Harper and his wife Laureen, who is present for part of the interview, also let their guard down a bit to give a glimpse of how they spend their private time.
In parts of the interview featuring the prime ministerial retreat at Harrington Lake, in the Gatineau Hills outside Ottawa, the Harpers talk about the “paradise” of the home and its surroundings, and the Prime Minister muses aloud about how he’d love to retire there.
“We spend our whole summers here. We move up after school ends and we come back on Labour Day,” Harper says, noting that they regularly invite friends up to join them.
The couple say they agree on most matters, but there are differences.
“We are very different, remember,” Laureen Harper says. “He’s from downtown Toronto, I’m from Alberta, southern Alberta, rural. . . . I make him go camping at least once a year. He doesn’t — he won’t sleep on the ground. But he goes out and he goes camping at least, at least once a year.”
Original Article
Source: Star
“We have some major challenges in front of us,” Harper says to anchor Lisa LaFlamme in the interview, to be broadcast Monday at 7 p.m.
The Prime Minister makes repeated mention of hard economic decisions looming on the budget horizon and the lingering concern over how global insecurity is going to affect Canada.
“There’s going to be a whole range of areas where this government’s going to be taking issues over the next year to secure the sustainability of our key programs,” Harper says, “not just in terms of reducing the deficit but for our generation to come, and at the same time making some major reforms in various areas, so that we can continue to grow this economy and attract the capital that will create jobs for people.”
On immigration policy, for instance, Harper says his government is looking at reforms that will help immigrants make more of a contribution to Canada’s economic growth.
“We’re also going to try and find ways that we can make our immigration policy more activist in nature,” Harper says.
“But we’ve got to do more in the economy of the future than just passively accept applications. We have to recruit people to come to this country, particularly when there are specific skill shortages that are developing, and that’s what we’re going to do as a government.”
Harper tells LaFlamme that Canadians are probably wise to be wary about economic insecurity, given the forecast for the year ahead.
“The next year will be a very challenging year for the global economy and therefore the economy of this country,” Harper says. “But as I say, we’ve got a lot of opportunities in Canada that others don’t have and we’re going to do what we can in the next year to position this country to take advantage of those opportunities.”
The Prime Minister reaches this year-end interview with eight months of majority government under his belt, but he makes clear to LaFlamme that he doesn’t intend to become complacent with power.
“You know, I’ve seen too many majority governments (in which) bureaucracy talks them into going to sleep for three years and then they all of a sudden realize they’re close to an election,” he says. “So we’ve tried to keep busy and we’re going to try and keep busy through the whole four years.”
Harper and his wife Laureen, who is present for part of the interview, also let their guard down a bit to give a glimpse of how they spend their private time.
In parts of the interview featuring the prime ministerial retreat at Harrington Lake, in the Gatineau Hills outside Ottawa, the Harpers talk about the “paradise” of the home and its surroundings, and the Prime Minister muses aloud about how he’d love to retire there.
“We spend our whole summers here. We move up after school ends and we come back on Labour Day,” Harper says, noting that they regularly invite friends up to join them.
The couple say they agree on most matters, but there are differences.
“We are very different, remember,” Laureen Harper says. “He’s from downtown Toronto, I’m from Alberta, southern Alberta, rural. . . . I make him go camping at least once a year. He doesn’t — he won’t sleep on the ground. But he goes out and he goes camping at least, at least once a year.”
Original Article
Source: Star
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