Back in 2008, we watched as U.S. neighbourhoods emptied the fallout of a sub-prime mortgage crisis that would bring Billions in Bailouts and see the death of more than 400 banks. Now, a new report from a respected Canadian think tank that says our Canadian banks got a secret bailout and suggests that Canadians were misled has economists, bankers and finance officials seeing red. They say it is simply .. not true.

---

Part One of The Current

Satire

It's Thursday, May 3rd.

As the Conservatives celebrated a year of majority rule, Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair remarked "it's the beginning of the end for a government that thinks it can ignore the voices of millions of Canadians."

Currently, the newly elected NDP leader clearly still has a lot to learn about how governments work.

This is The Current.

Was there a secret Canadian banking bailout? - Economics Professor

There was economic despair in the United States as it sank knee deep in recession-- a global crisis its banks had done so much to create. As the world endured the financial meltdown, Canada's banking system was celebrated as stable and well-managed.

A new report from the think tank, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives however, suggests Canada's banks were deeply troubled. The CCPA says Canada's biggest banks were in so much trouble from 2008 to 2009, they required a secret $114 billion dollar bailout. If true, it's an astonishing secret, and we'll hear more about the report in a moment.

But some people believe it's not astonishing -- because they say it's not true.
Stephen Gordon is among those people. He is a professor of economics at Laval University and blogger for the Globe and Mail as well as the Worthwhile Canadian Initiative. He was in Quebec City.

Secret Canadian banking bailout? - Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

Well , to say the report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has some people riled up is an understatement. David MacDonald is the senior economist with Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He's also the author of The Big Banks Big Secret: Estimating government support for Canadian banks during the financial crisis. He was in Ottawa

This segment was produced by The Current's Howard Goldenthal and Shannon Higgins.

Other segments from today's show:

Checking - In

Execution Reporter: Michael Graczyk