Enough, at least, to realize that it’s worth paying attention to the recommendations that the Parliamentary Budget Office released last week. Looks like that spreadsheet y’all worked so hard on may end up being useful after all, guys! From yesterday’s post-QP scrum with John McCallum:
Enough, at least, to realize that it’s worth paying attention to the recommendations that the Parliamentary Budget Office released last week. Looks like that spreadsheet y’all worked so hard on may end up being useful after all, guys! From yesterday’s post-QP scrum with John McCallum:
Question: On the issue of accountability, what do you want to see in the March 11th report by the Finance Minister to Parliament? What should it contain?
John McCallum: Well, we want to see a clear statement of not money out the door because money will not have gone out the door before April 1st but plans and something that will reassure Canadians that money is indeed imminently likely to go out the door. We would want to see as much evidence as they can muster, that for example, the infrastructure money will flow quickly after April the 1st, will not sit under a mattress in Ottawa and we will also be guided by the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s accountability framework which will also be a part of the probation process.
It’s worth noting, of course, that we still haven’t heard a peep from the government on how it plans to meet the still somewhat ephemeral reporting requirements, although in fairness, since this wasn’t their idea, perhaps the finance minister is waiting for the Liberals to fill them in on exactly what they’re expecting to see.