It’s too early to tell if Canada’s economy has slumped into a recession.

That’s straight from federal finance minister Joe Oliver – who  says the country is well positioned to weather an economic storm – but is in a fragile environment – with external factors like the price of oil and economic troubles in Europe.

Oliver says the fact that American growth was down in the first quarter – also undermines confidence for Canadian companies based on export potential.

The TD Bank said on Monday that Canada was likely in a recession in the first half of the year -and it predicted that the Bank of Canada would cut its key interest rates next week.

In a speech in Vancouver, Oliver said Canada must stay the economic course – so as not to follow Greece.

He also said he has faith that Europe will be able to sort itself out – over the debt crisis in Greece.