From Jim Flaherty’s budget preamble:

A year before the crisis, we saw the risk of a slowdown. It originated outside our borders, but we knew it would eventually affect us.

I guess you just had to read between the lines:

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

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

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