PBO cites concerns over new ‘restrictions’

OTTAWA • The Parliamentary Budget Officer has raised major concerns with the budget implementation bill the Liberal government introduced Tuesday in the House of Commons.

The bill would make the PBO an official officer of parliament, which Jean-Denis Fréchette said Wednesday is a good thing — it currently falls under the authority of the Library of Parliament — but, he says, the bill also introduces new “restrictions.”

Although the government says it is open to amendments, Fréchette confirmed in an interview he wasn’t consulted on the legislation. He was surprised there was no communication with his office, he said, even though the proposed law directly affects it.

Fréchette described areas of significant uncertainty. The requirement of approval from House of Commons and Senate speakers for an annual “work plan,” for one thing, raises big questions.

“I’m curious to know why.” he said. “It is an unknown. It is something that we have to ask questions about. Is it a way to control the agenda of the work that we will do? I don’t know.”

Unexpected events can happen, and the PBO may want to initiate a study on major government spending.

For example, Fréchette hypothesized, if Canada were to launch a military engagement somewhere in the world, would the PBO need to amend its work plan and conduct a study on the cost of a mission? Or would its work be restricted, based on the Speaker’s approval?

The bill would require the PBO to cost political parties’ election platforms if requested, something the office had suggested in its own proposal for draft legislation released last summer. But Fréchette isn’t so keen.

“The costing of platforms is not something that I am a proponent of. I’ve been vocal before. I don’t think it’s the greatest idea in the world because it could create some problems in terms of the neutrality and the non-partisanship,” he said.

The way the Liberals propose to legislate this is “topheavy” and “overly complicated,” Fréchette said — “it’s just one problem after (another), the whole section.”

Finally, access to information provisions are a “disappointment,” Fréchette said. Two big changes come with the bill: the PBO can access “information,” writ large, rather than just “data;” and it can seek such information from Crown corporations, not just departments.

But it is unclear, Fréchette said, whether there is any remedy for the PBO to be able to complain should departments or Crown corporations prove unwilling to provide necessary information.

“I think the legislators should have thought of some mechanism there that would give me some leverage,” he said. “It’s pretty weak for me, for the moment.”