Watchdog wants details on budget Liberals told to come clean on spending

Parliament’s spending watchdog has urged the federal government to come clean on billions of dollars’ worth of expenditure outlined in last month’s budget that includes little or no explanation — be it on infrastructure, programs for Canadians or the military.

The Liberal government’s third budget, tabled late last month, showed billions in planned infrastructure spending was being shifted to future years. The document also showed declines in program spending totalling about $16 billion over six years, thereby reducing the government’s bottom line.

The Liberals provided the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer with information to explain why the government believed annual spending would drop by an average of $2.7 billion — but only on the condition that Jean-Denis Frechette’s office not release the details.

The PBO received no explanation for why the spending information for some departments and Crown corporations couldn’t be shared with taxpayers — a condition that stands at odds with other work the Liberals have done to help parliamentarians keep better account of government spending.

“Those improvements are there, but in certain areas they are still hesitant to provide more detailed information. What I don’t understand is why,” said Mostafa Askari, the deputy parliamentary budget officer.

“When I look at that information (about the $16 billion), there’s nothing there that should be confidential.”

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s department said some of the information was still subject to government approval, or contained other details not yet approved for public release. A spokesman for the department insisted the budget included a “clear explanation” for budget changes and “unprecedented detail” about spending as part of ongoing efforts to improve transparency.

Thursday’s report casts a critical eye on the budget just days before MPs return to the House of Commons after a two-week break and in the midst of a push to complete funding deals with provinces and territories for $33 billion worth of infrastructure money.

The Liberals have repeatedly been forced to defend the slower-than-expected pace of that spending.

The distribution of infrastructure funds is often delayed, since dollars don’t flow to projects until cities and provinces submit expense receipts, creating a lag between when work takes place and when federal money gets spent.