Wednesday 17 April 2013

Fiscal Responsibility Starts with Factual Information

When Prime Minister Harper ran for office in 2006, he promised to clean up Ottawa. He created the Parliamentary Budget Office so Canadians would know what our government is doing with our money.

The Budget Office has been an unqualified success at cutting through political rhetoric and looking at the straight numerical facts.
From F-35's to prisons, Kevin Page, our first federal budget watchdog, showed that he could hold government accountable for fiscal mismanagement. But Harper let Kevin Page's term expire just before the Tories released the 2013 budget.  

Since taking office the Federal Conservatives have had more closed committee meetings, where the  information is not  divulged to the public, than any other Canadian Government.  If our government believes they can hide their plans from public scrutiny they will be more likely to do things that Canadians don't want.  

Stephen Harper has been extremely secretive on how and with whom he plans to replace Kevin Page our current PBO.   The identities of the people who sit on the PBO search committee are being hidden, even from elected Members of Parliament. The search committee hasn't met yet -- and, Kevin Page has even been banned from meeting with the committee!

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's fiscal policies have not held up to fiscal oversight and now he is backing away from his commitment to the Parliamentary Budget Office.

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