I was impressed when Stephen Harper created the office of Parliamentary Budget Officer. It was the right thing to do given that the true state of our government’s finances seems never to be revealed until a new government comes to power. Here, finally, there was to be an independent office that would report on our country’s finances in a non-partisan way. Financial reporting by the previous Liberal government was largely a matter of hiding good news under the proverbial bushel basket so as to electrify us with its fiscal prowess as Paul Martin rolled out a seemingly endless stream of windfall surpluses. But regardless of whether it’s good news or bad, Canadian’s have a right to know the facts, especially if we happen to be soon heading to the polls. So full marks to Mr. Harper for creating the office and added kudos to whomever in his government decided that respected economist and career bureaucrat Kevin Page was the right man to fill the post.

Unfortunately that‘s the end of the good news. If the object of the exercise was “truth in budgeting”, that’s what Kevin’s office provided. But that realism, whether in regard to rosy but flawed government fiscal forecasts or the true cost of the war in Afghanistan, has been a bit too much truth for this government. Mr. Page’s office has had its budget cut by one million dollars. He personally has been the object of much criticism from the PMO for contradicting the government’s numbers and has repeatedly been accused of exceeding his authority. As a result he’s been muzzled with regard to public statements but he did secure a promise from a joint Commons – Senate finance committee that, if he complies with whatever restrictions he’s agreed to; his office will see reinstated the funding that he needs to do its job. Despite this committee’s recommendations only 1.8 million of the original 2.8 million dollars in funding has been committed thus far and the government is disavowing responsibility for the shortfall. It is, the government says, an issue of departmental budgets. It’s difficult to believe that some kind of retribution is not at work here and Kevin has suggested that if not properly funded, the office should be shut down. What’s puzzling about all this is that The Parliamentary Budget Office, a supposedly independent body, has never had its own separate funding.

Most Canadians know something of the revelations provided by this new office but they are likely unaware of their source or of the fine work Kevin and his staff have done in providing us with a realistic picture of our finances. It’s important work especially when we are constantly being fed skewed numbers from the major parties. Take the recent example of the state of economic stimulus funding. The Conservatives tell us that something in excess of 80% of the funding has been rolled out. The Liberals say that in fact only 12% of the funds have been distributed. It’s the job of the Parliamentary Budget Office to cut through this fanciful nonsense and tell Canadians the truth. Kevin may well often feel that he’s jousting with windmills but we need his office to function as it was intended to, both now and for the future.

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Tags: finances, kevin page, parliamentary budget officer, stephen harper

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