OTTAWA — The Conservatives say it is possible to protect Canada's most vulnerable while still balancing the federal government's books.
But interim leader Rona Ambrose told a business gathering in Ottawa today she expects neither from the maiden Liberal budget.
Ambrose says the fiscal plan, to be unveiled Tuesday, will only serve to harm the economy by sinking the country further into debt.
And she predicts that will ultimately result in fewer jobs and harm to vulnerable Canadians.
Speaking to an audience that included Assembly of First Nations chief Perry Bellegarde, Ambrose says the job prospects of indigenous Canadians will suffer.
She also says new taxes on stock options, which some expect to see in Tuesday's budget, would stifle economic growth and innovation.
Ambrose says the Liberal plan will mark a return to 20th-century thinking that will saddle the country with a massive long-term deficit.