Publié par la sénatrice Sharon Carstairs le 22 juillet 2009
Cet article est disponible dans la langue officielle dans laquelle il a été redigé.
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Re: Harper Rejects 'Dumb' Budget Advice, National Post, July 18.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) -- a position currently held by Kevin Page -- is an officer of the Library of Parliament. The joint Senate and House of Commons committee on the Library of Parliament wanted to ensure two things: that the PBO's present mandate is understood and that there is adequate funding for this position.
The PBO produces two kinds of reports. The first are self-initiated reports, for example, on the state of the economy and the reliability of budget projections. The only request made of the PBO is that these reports be tabled in Parliament and that a pre-briefing be made available to parliamentarians. No one should question the independence of the PBO in these self-generated reports.
The second type of report are those requested by a parliamentary committee or an individual parliamentarian. These reports are not released by the PBO, but by the party requesting the report. The report on the cost of the Afghanistan war was requested by Paul Dewar, MP for Ottawa, and there is no doubt in my mind that it would have been immediately released by him once received.
The committee believes that the PBO needs appropriate funding and that is why we recommend an increase to $2.8-million. We also believe whoever holds this office should respect the law and the job description under which he is hired.
Senator Sharon Carstairs is co-chair of the joint committee on the Library Of Parliament, Ottawa