Proposed changes would inhibit efficacy: PBO

NO RESTRICTIONS

ANDY BLATCHFORD OTTAWA • The head of an agency that has spent years shining a light for Canadians on the sometimes-opaque world of government spending is slamming the Trudeau government for its plan to give his office a makeover.

Parliamentary budget officer Jean-Denis Fréchette laid out detailed arguments Wednesday on how proposed legislation would limit the freedom and capabilities of an office with a track record of getting under the skin of governments.

Fréchette’s office — also known as the PBO — is designed to serve parliamentarians as a check on the management of the nation’s finances.

“Those restrictions will undermine PBO’s functional independence and its effectiveness in supporting parliamentarians to scrutinize government spending and hold the government to account,” Fréchette said Wednesday in a statement.

The government has faced criticism since proposing the changes last month and, following the backlash, the Liberals have said they are open to tweaks.

Fréchette said the most concerning proposals include new controls over the PBO by the House of Commons and Senate Speakers, limits on the office’s freedom to initiate reports and restrictions on individual parliamentarians’ ability to request estimates.

Among the changes, the legislation would require the PBO to submit its annual work plans to the Speakers of both parliamentary houses for approval.

In addition, the law would prevent the PBO from making a report public until a day after it is provided to the Speakers or to the parliamentary committee that requested the research.

Fréchette, who says he wasn’t consulted on the legislation, also outlined the risks associated with an added mandate for the PBO to cost election pledges by political parties.

It would be the “most significant departure” from its current role, he noted.

Fréchette said costing election vows for political parties would turn the office into a research bureau for policy development, seriously undermine its perceived independence and deplete its resources.

He told a news conference Wednesday that he met with high-ranking officials from the Privy Council Office last week to learn more about the motives behind the bill.

Fréchette said he was “furious” and then “puzzled” when told the government wanted to “reset the sometimes dysfunctional relationship with the PBO.” He added a recent focus group poll showed the office is in good standing with parliamentarians.

Assistant parliamentary budget officer, Mostafa Askari, also attended the meeting. He said PBO officials were also told that their office had “a lack of focus on services to Parliament.”

“First of all, this is false — completely,” Askari said. “It’s also insulting, to be honest, to those who are working within PBO and those who’ve worked for PBO in the past.”