B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says all governments have to make difficult choices to ride out of the global economic downturn. (CBC)

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell won't say whether Tuesday's federal budget will force his provincial government into its own deficit budget next month.

Campbell was in Ottawa on Tuesday when federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled the budget with a predicted deficit of $33.7 billion for the 2009-10 fiscal year and $29.8 billion the following year.

Campbell said there was a "real urgency" behind the deficit budget plan, which requires a partnership from other provinces.

"This is a positive platform for progress, for productivity. It's really a call for partnership with other levels of government, and we are certainly ready to go there," Campbell told CBC News.

"The economy is really about giving people jobs and confidence that they will get a paycheque that can take care of their mortgage and their families."

When asked if the B.C. provincial budget in February will predict a deficit, Campbell said it's a tough time for all governments and difficult choices have to be made to ride out of the global economic downturn.

"Every government right now is facing dramatically shifting economic projections, falling revenues, and if you protect services and those revenues fall too much, there's a whole lot of choices that you have to make, and they are very difficult," he said.

B.C. New Democratic Party Leader Carole James welcomed the new spending for transit and infrastructure in the federal budget, but she said it falls short of providing the sort of help British Columbians need.

"The [federal] government has only extended EI benefits by five weeks. That means in one month all of the forest workers, all of the people who have lost their jobs, will still be worrying about their EI running out, so that falls well short," she said.

Vancouver welcomes infrastructure dollars

The federal government is promising $4 billion over the next two years for projects beginning construction in the 2009 and 2010 building seasons. The government said it would approve provincial, territorial and municipal projects, and cover up to 50 per cent of eligible project costs.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said the city is looking forward to seeing those infrastructure dollars flow to Vancouver this year.

"We have good projects to apply them to on green infrastructure, cleaning our waterways from False Creek to Trout Lake. We also have the ability to put some of these infrastructure dollars into bridge upgrading, particularly the Granville and Burrard Street bridges," Robertson said.

He said the city currently has about $120 million available for bridge, water and sewer upgrades.