Categories: Capital Read, Inside the Queensway

PBOWatch: Okay, maybe the Liberals are putting some thought into the coming budget report card.

by kadyomalley on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 10:17am - 8 Comments

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.

Tags: Budget, finance, John McCallum, mandatory reporting is hard, pbowatch, so - june huh?

More by kadyomalley

http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Wanting to see ‘plans and something …’ is putting some thought into the up-coming budget report card? That’s pretty generous spin, Kady. We already have stories about McCallum musing on when Libs would vote no-confidence in Cons so to make it seem like these ‘plans’ are really important is nonsensical.

http://www.macleans.ca Kady O’Malley

Oops, that’ll teach me not to add emphasis. I meant to highlight the bit where he is, at the very least, aware of the fact that the PBO has done a fairly thorough job of laying out exactly what should be in the report.

Just visiting

I find it difficult to imagine how any such reports will be all meaningful.

Sure, you can measure, eventually, dollars-out-the-door per-hour or some such thing, which is fine.

The purpose of the stimulus package, however, is to arrest the economic decline that would otherwise occur as a result of the economic downturn.

This being the case, how exactly does one measure jobs not lost, arrested or averted loss of economic activity, etc. relative to what theoretically might have happened without any stimulus?

As such, these reports are going to be terrifically subjective in nature, and subject to whatever interpretation one may choose to place on them.

So while the reports may be useful in triggering votes in the House for or against the government’s stimulus plan, it’s hard to see how they can be meaningful beyond that.

- JV

LeenieJ (imho)

yes, JV, it’s the ‘unbearable lightness of “meaning”‘ politics seems to be afflicted with lately.

Wayne

If anyone seriously believes that this so called report card is anything but a tactic to allow the LPC to bellyache, complain and generally all around try to be an oppostion without looking like Dion redux deja vu time all over again, then they need to return to school and study basic politics. A good test would be if the CPC said (not publicly of course) who cares about your report card – then what? What are the Lib’s going to do force an election = cool let’s go says the CPC after blaming it all on the LPC of course then what … can anyone honestly imagine the fate of the Liberal Party if they did force an election .. ? Nope sorry that porcine don’t fly ..

generayburn

Oh yeah Wayne, you sure know “politics”

gordon

“perhaps the finance minister is waiting for the Liberals to fill them in on exactly what they’re expecting to see.” This is proof that the reformers just don’t get it, the only way they know to govern is to divide and confuse. It must be pretty difficult for them to not be partisan. Their policy has been to name call and avoid the questions, or give vague or incendiary answers. I’m sure the reformers will squirm their way out of this one also, because I believe Ignatieff is a tory in liberal clothing.
hosertohoosier

The only thing I wonder is whether the Liberals will complain that the Tories have ignored accountability by rushing the money or failed to get the money out in time. One of the two criticisms is coming.