Impact of budget measures ‘unknown’

OTTAWA – The Conservative government has been approving tens of billions of dollars of budget measures, having large impacts on its fiscal position, without Cabinet always knowing the long-term financial consequences of the decisions, the federal auditor general says.

The new findings come as Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page threatens to take the federal government to court to obtain long-requested information on the impacts of billions of dollars of cuts announced in the 2012 budget.

Page has promised to serve legal notice this week to several major federal departments.

In his fall 2012 report released Tuesday, Auditor General Michael Ferguson concluded the Department of Finance often does not take into account the impact of tens of billions of dollars of spending and tax measures on the government’s longterm fiscal sustainability.

Furthermore, the lack of federal reporting about longterm economic consequences of major government decisions means parliamentarians are forced to vote blindly on some budget measures without knowing their true impact on the country’s finances, the report says.

Just hours after the auditor released his report, the Finance Department unveiled a sweeping study on the economic and fiscal implications of Canada’s aging population.

It projects that a greying society will translate into slower growth for the economy and government revenues, and additional stresses on public finances.