NDP forcing financial meeting
The federal New Democrats are forcing the House of Commons finance committee to sit next week to discuss the slumping economy and budget watchdog’s projection of a $1-billion deficit this year — and are urging Finance Minister Joe Oliver to make an appearance.
NDP finance critic Nathan Cullen has written Conservative MP and finance committee chairman James Rajotte over what he says is an “urgent matter,” asking for the committee to convene next week to hear from the parliamentary budget officer, Bank of Canada officials and those from Finance Canada.
The NDP letter follows one sent Wednesday from Liberal finance critic Scott Brison calling on Oliver to appear at the finance committee to explain why the government still believes it will balance the books this year and to update the department’s fiscal projections for 2015-16.
The NDP, through a parliamentary procedural manoeuvre, can force the committee to convene within five days (by next Wednesday) if at least three members of the Conservative-dominated panel request that the committee clerk call a meeting.
Three New Democrat MPs on the committee — Cullen, Pierre Dionne Labelle and Raymond Coté — have signed the letter to the clerk requesting the meeting.
“I believe it is important for Parliamentarians to examine the impacts of this dramatic shift in government finances and the weakening Canadian economy,” Cullen says in the letter to Rajotte.
“In particular, it is my belief that it would be appropriate for the Minister of Finance to appear before the committee ‘to explain the reasons for the projected deficit and present a plan for a return to balanced budgets’ as suggested by the recently passed Balanced Budget Act.”
A spokesman for Oliver would not say if the minister would appear, noting there has been “no official request from committee at this time.”
“We remain on track for a balanced budget in 2015,” said John Penner, who added that the department “included room in the budget to account for continuing weakness in the global economy.”
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer earlier this week projected the government will run a $1-billion deficit in the current 2015-16 fiscal year, something Cullen says is a “significant deviation” from the $1.4-billion surplus forecast in the April budget.
As well, the Bank of Canada last week released a report projecting the Canadian economy shrank for two consecutive quarters, meaning Canada slipped into a technical recession in the first half of the year.
The Conservative government, however, maintains it has built financial flexibility into the budget.