September 15, 2008: “My own belief is if we were going to have some kind of big crash or recession, we probably would have had it by now.” – Stephen Harper

The next month: Dow Jones plunges 2,340 points

October 7, 2008: “I think there’s probably a lot of great buying opportunities emerging in the stock market as a consequence of all this panic.” – Stephen Harper

Six week later: TSX down over 2,000 points

September 26, 2008: “All the fundamentals of the Canadian economy are good. It’s not the time to do anything new, wild or stupid.” – Stephen Harper

September 26, 2008: Harper accused Dion of attempting to “drive down confidence in the Canadian economy without foundation, and quite frankly, sitting on the sidelines, virtually cheering for a recession.”

October 6, 2008: “I know economists will say well, we could run a small deficit but the problem is that once you cross that line as we see in the United States, nothing stops deficits from getting larger and larger and spiralling out of control.” – Stephen Harper

October 8, 2008: Asked if running even a small deficit would be bad in these difficult times, Mr. Flaherty said flatly: “Yes, it would be.”

October 10, 2008: “This country will not go into recession next year and will lead the G7 countries.” – Stephen Harper

November 22, 2008: “These are, of course, the classic circumstances under which budgetary deficits are essential.” –Stephen Harper

November 27, 2008: Flaherty predicts recession, offers no stimulus package

December 15, 2008: “The truth is, I’ve never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking forward to the future. I’m very worried about the Canadian economy. […] Obviously, we’re going to have to run a deficit.” – Stephen Harper

December 16, 2008: Canada’s leader [Harper] says depression possible

December 17, 2008: “It’s quite clear on the basis of the forecasts, and the continuing decline in the forecasts, that there will be a deficit.” – Jim Flaherty

December 18, 2008: Harper says deficit could hit 30 billion