About that $11 billion

Economists consider Stephen Harper’s promised cuts.

Canadian Labour Congress chief economist Andrew Jackson said the Conservative spending exercise would likely cause cuts in programs because the obvious, easy cuts have already been made by the Harper government. He said the spending to be reviewed by the Conservatives — $80 billion in annual operational costs — has already been subjected to a round of savings reviews. “It’s a second kick at the can,” he said. “Those budgets have pretty well already been cut.”