Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty took a swipe at the Ontario government on Wednesday, calling on the province to cut business taxes.

The political sparring comes less than a week before Flaherty is due to bring down his next budget on Feb. 26.

"Premier [Dalton] McGuinty doesn't get the relationship between economic inaction and the bad consequences in the economy," Flaherty said at a speech delivered to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in Toronto.

'These are words of war, and if he wants a war, he's going to get one.'—Sandra Pupatello, Ontario's economic development minister

"He seems to think that you can have high business taxes, and that, somehow, will not discourage business investment in Ontario. That's doesn't make sense, and we're seeing the effects of that now in Ontario."

Flaherty said Ontario should be following the lead of British Columbia, which announced business tax cuts in its provincial budget address on Tuesday.

Ontario Economic Development Minister Sandra Pupatello attended Flaherty's speech and returned fire at the former Ontario finance minister.

"These are words of war, and if he wants a war, he's going to get one," Pupatello said.

On Tuesday, McGuinty called on the federal government to include a plan in its budget to match Ontario's $1.1-billion fund that helps manufacturers expand operations if they create jobs.

With files from Canadian Press