The head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is blasting all political leaders for creating the current political crisis, saying the turmoil has created outrage among the business community by taking the focus off a much needed economic stimulus package.

"We’re facing the most serious economic crisis in 50 years. People’s homes are on the line, their businesses are in jeopardy," Perrin Beatty said in an interview with CBC News.

"People are … looking for leadership from members of Parliament on all sides of the House and instead what we have is political opportunism."

"What we’re saying to all of the members of Parliament is it’s time to put the public interest first and to stop the political gamesmanship."

The crisis was sparked after opposition parties rejected the Tory government's economic statement. They complained it contained no new stimulus package and vowed to vote against it, a move that would topple the government.

The Liberals and NDP, backed by the Bloc Québécois, have formed a coalition that could replace the Conservative minority government and avoid an election.

Their accord also included a proposed multibillion-dollar stimulus package with support for the auto and forestry sectors.

Beatty said the stimulus package should be put forward "as rapidly as possible" and before the Jan. 27 budget date set by the Conservative government.

He said the package should be targeted, responsible and makes clear that Canada will not return to structural deficits.

"I think what we need to do certainly is have the broad lines of what level should stimulus be, what nature should it take."

Beatty said intensive consultations with the business community and a clear commitment on the part of whoever is running the country to move ahead and deal with the economic crisis.

"Instead, if you watched question period yesterday, the only time in which the economy came up was when it was used as a club by members of Parliament to beat the other side," he said.

Beatty said the "sense of outrage" among business people across the country is "simply palpable."

"People are angry. They thought they voted just a few weeks ago for members of Parliament to put the national interests first and instead they see the squabbling for power," he said.

While Beatty criticized the Tories for not coming up with a stimulus package, he said his organization has a number of concerns about any stimulus proposal put forth by the coalition.

"One of the difficulties with coalitions is that you tend to get out at the cheque book to hold the coalition together and what we don’t want to see is a response to a political situation that compounds the economic problem."

"The criticism we had of the government was that they weren’t acting quickly enough on stimulus and putting a plan forward. The concern we would have about the coalition is we don’t know what the details are of their economic strategy.

"We don’t know whether they will simply spend to hold the coalition together. We are concerned about the level of spending that they’re talking about."