Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he urged his G7 counterparts to resist "populist political temptation" and stay away from protectionist trade measures as the global economy tanks.
Flaherty, in a conference call from Rome, says he made the point "quite strongly" during a weekend meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized countries.
A joint G7 communique professed a strong consensus to resist protectionism and maintain open trading relations.
The United States Congress and two major Canadian labour unions have pushed for domestic buying provisions in the two countries' respective stimulus packages.
But Flaherty called it "populist politics" that caters to "short-sighted, short-term demands" -- and says he stressed that point to his G7 counterparts.
The finance ministers also agreed on the need to get the money flowing from stimulus packages as quickly as possible, and Flaherty said he hopes to have the Conservative budget passed through the Commons and the Senate and given royal assent by March
