OTTAWA - With demands on Ottawa's treasury mounting, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty appears to be ratcheting down expectations on how much the government can do to fix the economy.

The minister opened a round of public consultations for his Jan. 27 budget in New Brunswick on Friday -- but his office has already fielded specific appeals for help that would set government finances back to the bad-old days of the 1980s and '90s, and then some.

The Canadian branches of Detroit's Big Three automakers are asking for close to $7 billion, auto parts makers at least $1 billion, and $9.5 billion may be needed to save the deal on the $32-billion in frozen asset backed commercial paper from unravelling.

In addition, the forestry sector, manufacturers, auto dealers and any number of other sectors have held out their hands, although have put no specific money demands on the table.

On Friday came the biggest ask so far.

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, representing high-tech executives, issued a statement Friday calling on the government to create a $60-billion infrastructure fund, arguing that only such a sum would approach what is being proposed in the United Sates.

The organization notes that the International Monetary Fund has said Canada should be prepared to run a $30-billion deficit, but it adds: "We think that in reality the IMF is too conservative, and we should be prepared to spend to the level of the Americans."

Flaherty has given no indication how big a stimulus he is planning to announce in late January.

But in a speech in Saint John, the minister maintained that Canada's economic problems -- while serious -- are not in the same ballpark as America's and that this was not a time to panic, or rush in with quick, misspent cash.

"We are living in extraordinary times," he said. "We also know that panicking and making the wrong choices would be devastating for the Canadian economy," he said.

The statement drew heavy criticism from Liberal economic critic John McCallum, who accused Flaherty of repeatedly under-estimating the severity of Canada's economic downturn.