Harper govt. not cooperating with Budget Officer

[StylinRed]

PBO won't issue analysis on Ottawa's finances, blames government secrecy
Julilan Beltrame, The Canadian Press Nov 06, 2012 13:16:00 PM



OTTAWA - Canada's budget watchdog will not issue a mid-year report on the Harper government's finances, citing lack of co-operation from the vast majority of departments.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page posted a partial analysis on the government's $5.2 billion spending cuts plan Tuesday, but said a complete report that would be useful to parliamentarians is impossible because he just hasn't been given enough information.
He is seeking legal advice on whether he can sue Ottawa for the information, saying he will have an opinion this month.
"We're just saying show us the plan. This is not just a PBO issue, Parliament needs to see this and if they do see it and start scrutinize these plans, the chance of hitting objectives goes up," he said.
"But to say: We are not giving you the plan, totally undermines Parliament."
Page said he has been begging departments and other governmental organizations to report to his office their plans for personnel cuts and their impact on programs and services for seven months, but in many cases has received only a perfunctory response.
To date, the PBO has received responses to requests about budget cutbacks from 91 per cent of government departments.
However, most have supplied inadequate information, he said.
Only one-quarter of departments, representing three per cent of the $5.2 billion in budgeted cutbacks, have provided data on personnel losses or the impact on services to Canadians, he said.
"The lack of disclosure will prevent the PBO from providing parliamentarians with independent analysis on the state of the nation's finances and the estimates of the government," the budget officer said in the analysis.
On Monday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty reiterated his position that he does not believe Page is entitled to the information he is seeking.
"My concern is his mandate is to look at government spending," Flaherty told CBC's Power and Politics program.
"What's he's proposing to do now is look at government non-spending. I don't see that in his mandate. I wish he would stick to his knitting, quite frankly, he has enough to do."
Flaherty is expected to issue the government's economic update on the fiscal year so far later this month.
Page said his counterparts in other countries have no such difficulties, noting that his mandate is to scrutinize the estimates of the government, which would include both higher and lower levels of spending. He has the backing of the opposition parties on the interpretation.
But Page said he doesn't want to go to court, and once he receives a legal opinion, he hopes the dispute can be resolved.
"The solution we want to achieve is a change in culture where transparency is the norm," he said.
"The PBO cannot hold anyone to account, it's only Parliament that can. It's Parliament that needs this information. Wouldn't our fiscal plans be better if we had front-end due diligence by parliamentarians? That's their fiduciary responsibilities under the Constitution."
Page gave no date when he will offer his next analysis, saying it will come "as further data is provided."
Based on information he has received so far, he said the government will achieve most of its cost savings from cutbacks to international, immigration, defence and social programs and general government services.
Reductions in internal operations, or overhead, only represent about 15 per cent of the overall package, he said, but added that he has no information how service to Canadians is being impacted.

PBO won't issue analysis on Ottawa's finances, blames government secrecy - News1130

PBO won't issue analysis on Ottawa's finances, blasts gov't secrecy | CTV News




This has been going on for a little while now, figured we should have a thread

[Great68]

How am I not surprised.

[Akinari]

Oh Stephen...

All I can say is, I'm sorry for causing this looney to be put into Office.

[murd0c]

I didn't vote for him so he can go fuck himself

[Graeme S]

This little bit just blew my fucking mind:

On Monday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty reiterated his position that he does not believe Page is entitled to the information he is seeking.
"My concern is his mandate is to look at government spending," Flaherty told CBC's Power and Politics program.
"What's he's proposing to do now is look at government non-spending. I don't see that in his mandate. I wish he would stick to his knitting, quite frankly, he has enough to do."

I cannot believe that anyone would be able to say that with a straight fucking face.

[Gridlock]

I think what he's saying is, that office has a role of analyzing what is being spent. Looking at the cuts can have a partisan angle, as you are now arming people on specifics of what the governing party is doing towards their goals-as evidenced by the opposition wanting that information.

[Graeme S]

Originally Posted by Gridlock

I think what he's saying is, that office has a role of analyzing what is being spent. Looking at the cuts can have a partisan angle, as you are now arming people on specifics of what the governing party is doing towards their goals-as evidenced by the opposition wanting that information.

This is always true--the opposition always wants the information. The difference is that this office didn't exist until the Conservatives put it in place in order to create additional transparency in government.

The Conservatives have always fought for transparency as the opposition, or from whichever position they were in while in the legislature. Stephen Harper himself railed against what he considered to be an overly large Liberal omnibus bill in the days of Paul Martin. He claimed it made ministers and government work too hard and hid important details.

The length of this bill? 21 pages.

The length of the current conservatives' most recent omnibus bill? Over 400.




I get that it's supposed to be about analyzing what's spent--but you can't analyze what you don't know. If I were on a set budget from let's say a bank or government agency who was controlling what it was I was spending on certain things, if I suddenly stopped spending on some things, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't just be like "oh, cool, you're spending less money paying bills. I'm sure that's totally okay with everyone."

In my mind it's a question of following the letter while completely disregarding the spirit. Which is especially frustrating for me when they continue to create some of the least clear legislation and least transparent decision making after having railed on the fact that previous governments hid too much.


[/rant]

[Lomac]

I saw the original post and immediately thought to myself, "Didn't Harper brag about how his government was going to be the most transparent government in Canadian history during the elections?"

While I know that there's no such thing as a perfect government, at least I can be glad to say that I didn't vote for these guys to be in office.

[Gridlock]

I actually still don't mind the conservatives. He's making cuts. Cuts are never popular. We've discussed this before. There is never going to be low hanging fruit in terms of cost cutting where money is being completely wasted and not a single person is getting something for the dollars spent.

Am I crazy about the cuts to environmental reviews? No. At this point, I'm still willing to trust that its not going to be the end of days and there will still be oversight. I understand that we need economic development, and that usually means we're digging a hole.

And honestly, every time I drive my car, I'm voting in favour of this dreaded pipeline. I'd prefer a yes to XL and no to Enbridge, but the oil is coming out regardless and its going to be sold somewhere. I'd prefer US over China. But I didn't walk home today, so I'm part of forcing the oil out of the ground, so I've got to be understanding of the consequences.

I think he's doing an ok job in shitty times.

[StylinRed]

since we're on the topic of transparency

RMR: Rick's Rant - China Trade Agreement - YouTube