The Ottawa bureau reacts to 2013’s federal budget

Our bureau spent eight hours behind closed doors, poring over hundreds of pages that comprise Budget 2013, which Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced in the House of Commons this afternoon. Here are the bureau’s rapid-fire thoughts on what it all means.

John Geddes, our bureau chief, on Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s effort to recover his reputation as a fiscal conservative.

Paul Wells, our political editor, on why the Conservatives hope 2013 is a very boring year.

Stephen Gordon, a regular contributor to Maclean’s and professor of economics at Laval University, on why the budget represents the status quo.