OTTAWA — Australia's prime minister says he hopes to get a few tips from Canada on financial management when he sits down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Ottawa today.
Tony Abbott arrived in Canada yesterday for a two day visit before heading to Washington.
Abbott says Harper has been a beacon to centre-right parties around the world and he calls him "an exemplar of a contemporary, centre-right prime minister."
Australia is embarking on a series of austerity measures to try to balance its budget and Abbott says he hopes to learn from Harper's experience in whittling down Canada's deficit.
Harper has said Canada is on the verge of balancing its books and Abbott calls it a significant achievement in the face of a $55 billion deficit in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis.
Abbott is to meet Gov. Gen. David Johnston and take part in a roundtable discussion with business leaders from Canada and Australia before meeting with Harper on Parliament Hill.
During a press conference with Abbott, Harper said Canada is "a little more frank" than the rest of the world when it comes to climate change.
Harper says there's not a country in the world that would take action on climate change at the expense of its own economy — no matter what it might say.
The question about climate change follows regulations introduced in the United States last week to chop carbon emissions from U.S. power plants by 30 per cent by 2030.
Harper says Canada has actually done more to lower carbon emissions in its electricity sector than the U.S.
American approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to move Alberta crude to the Gulf Coast, has been stalled in the U.S. while the Obama administration drops hints that Canada must do more on the environment.
