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Harper, Liberals warn on U.S. debt impasse
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CBC News- Canadian leaders of differing political stripes warned Wednesday of the gravity of the debt-ceiling crisis underway in the United States.
The U.S government is currently grappling with a $14-trillion debt load. An impasse between Republicans and Democrats over raising the country's debt ceiling is threatening to send the world's largest economy into default as early as next week.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the crisis "very bad" at a press conference on Wednesday.
"Their fiscal position is very much more complicated and much more serious and difficult than ours is," he told reporters in French.
Opposition MP's also expressed their concern, and urged action from the federal government Wednesday.
Finance committee meeting demanded
Liberal finance critic Scott Brison and Liberal deputy leader Ralph Goodale called on the government to hold an extraordinary meeting of the House of Commons standing committee on finance to ensure a contingency plan is in place should the worst happen.
"Finance Minister Flaherty must come before the House finance committee to outline his contingency plan to shelter Canadians from the worst of the storm. What will be the consequences of a U.S. debt crisis for Canadian households already burdened by record debts?" Goodale said.
"Canadians deserve to know what the finance minister plans to do," Brison added.
Urging the federal government to use international pressure to nudge U.S. legislators toward a deal, Brison accused Tea Party-influenced senators and members of Congress of "toying with the global economy."
Harper said he was confident Washington would find a way to deal with the crisis. He also said Canada's fiscal situation is "significantly better" than that of the U.S.
"They want to have a balanced budget," he said, "and we want to see to it that our budget is balanced."
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