Pressure on to replace budget watchdog

‘Time is running out,’ Opposition says

OTTAWA — Opposition parties are calling on the government to speed up the process to replace the parliamentary watchdog, or at the very least extend the current appointment until a replacement is found.

Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page is two months from the end of his five-year term, and the government has given no indication when it will announce a replacement.

On Sunday, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking the government to extend Page’s appointment until a replacement is found “for the sake of accountability.”

“Given the importance of the Parliamentary Budget Officer to the work of parliamentarians, I believe it would be sensible to extend Mr. Page’s appointment until such time as a thorough, transparent and competitive search for his replacement can be completed and a new PBO appointed,” Mulcair wrote.

“It is crucial that parliamentarians, who are responsible in the coming months for providing oversight on the government’s annual budget, continue to have access to the PBO’s valuable advice.”

Should Page not be replaced on time, there’s a possibility that parliamentarians will “be deprived” of key information needed to make spending decisions, Liberal MP John McCallum said.

“It’s important to replace him and time is running out, ”said McCallum, the Liberal Treasury Board critic. “If they don’t have an official replacement by the time his term ends … the only option is an interim PBO, which I guess is better than nothing.”

Under the government’s 2006 Federal Accountability Act that created the PBO, the government can select a candidate from a list of three names submitted from a committee formed and chaired by the parliamentary librarian. The Parliament of Canada Act doesn’t provide a timeline for when the replacement process has to take place.

The Hill Times has reported that Page was asked to update the qualifications for the position in September. Earlier this month, the Library of Parliament started looking for an executive search firm.

When the position was first created, the Library of Parliament hired an executive search firm in August 2007 to find qualified candidates. After interviews in December of that year, the list of three names was given to the government on Dec. 21, 2007. Page’s appointment was announced in March 2008.

A spokesman for Treasury Board President Tony Clement said Sunday that Page’s position “will be filled in due course following a thorough process.”