The Canadian federal budget for fiscal year 1979–80 was presented by Minister of Finance Jean Chrétien in the House of Commons of Canada on 16 November 1978.
[2] The budget follows the announcement by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau of a $2-billion spending cuts package on 1 August 1978.
Details for $1.5-billion of the cuts were released on 16 August 1978 and affected more than 100 federal programs and many organisms including the Department of National Defence ($150-million), the CBC ($71-million), the Canadian International Development Agency ($133-million) and many other federal institutions.
Construction of a heavy water plant in La Prade (Quebec) was immediately suspended to generate $150-million in savings.
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