Flaherty looked to Liberals for lessons on spending cuts

Conservatives Flaherty's and Harper's Possible Cuts in 2011-2013 ?

Liberal and Chretien's Cuts in the 90's

David McKie, CBC News  Posted:Jun 4, 2011

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty asked for a review of the Liberal government’s ambitious spending cuts to programs of the 1990s a full year before there was any hint the Conservatives might do the same thing, according to documents obtained by CBC News. The briefing note to Flaherty, obtained though the Access to Information Act, examines program review, a massive exercise the Liberal government launched in 1994 to cut $13.3 billion dollars in expenses. When the program was finished, the government eliminated 55,000 positions from the federal public sector and created user fees to help raise revenue. The Conservatives have tried to distance themselves from the program review, saying that, unlike Jean Chrétien’s government, they will not be making the same kinds of cuts. (more)