Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

PBO rebukes Liberals over spending secrecy

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Nov, 2020 08:11 PM
  • PBO rebukes Liberals over spending secrecy

Parliament's budget watchdog has called out the Trudeau government for not providing information on billions of dollars in planned federal spending.

The parliamentary budget office made clear its concerns about the Liberals' spending secrecy in two separate reports released Wednesday.

The first accused the government of having failed to provide detailed information in its recent request to Parliament for $79 billion in added spending authority.

While the government says most of the money is intended for COVID-19 relief, the PBO suggested Parliament was hamstrung in its ability to oversee government spending because of the Liberals' secrecy.

"While the sum of these measures is significant, the amount of information that is publicly available to track this spending is lacking, thus making it more challenging for parliamentarians to perform their critical role in overseeing government spending and holding it to account," reads the report.

The budget office went on to note that the Liberals have yet to provide a complete list of COVID-19 measures announced so far, or updated estimates on how much those measures will cost.

"This lack of data is not a result of it not being available," the PBO report added. "The Department of Finance had been providing biweekly updates to the standing committee on finance, but stopped when Parliament was prorogued in August."

The budget office has taken it upon itself in recent months to start tracking the estimated costs of the government's COVID-19 relief, with the most recent tally coming in at more than $176 billion this year.

The second report examined the cost associated with new legislation designed to close the pay gap between men and women doing similar work in federally regulated workplaces.

While the PBO estimated the government will shell out at least $600 million per year for pay equity, it says that number only accounts for about 30 per cent of jobs affected by the new pay-equity law.

The budget office said the real cost will be substantially higher, but that while the Trudeau government knows how much, it refused to provide the information, citing cabinet confidence.

Government officials "refused to disclose information or data regarding employee compensation," reads the report. "Therefore, PBO relied on publicly available sources in its analysis of employee compensation for the federal public service."

It went on to encourage parliamentarians to push the government to be more forthright with its information.

MORE National ARTICLES

Baljit Kaur has been identified as the woman who died of her injuries in the Surrey Stabbing

Baljit Kaur has been identified as the woman who died of her injuries in the Surrey Stabbing
RCMP officers found three people with stab wounds of varying severity, but Baljit Kaur died of her injuries.

Baljit Kaur has been identified as the woman who died of her injuries in the Surrey Stabbing

Minassian makes brief appearance as trial nears

Minassian makes brief appearance as trial nears
Alek Minassian faces 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder in connection with the April 2018 incident.

Minassian makes brief appearance as trial nears

New Tory motion could trigger second showdown

New Tory motion could trigger second showdown
The point of the health committee motion is to get the answers that will improve upon Canada's response to the pandemic, not force an election, O'Toole said Thursday.

New Tory motion could trigger second showdown

Charges laid against former Bridge party leader

Charges laid against former Bridge party leader
"Two charges have been laid under the Canada Elections Act and a joint charge has been laid under the Criminal Code," Yves Côté said in a statement Thursday.

Charges laid against former Bridge party leader

WATCH: BC sets new daily record in COVID19 cases with first outbreak at a school

WATCH: BC sets new daily record in COVID19 cases with first outbreak at a school
WATCH: A new record for COVID19 cases for BC and the first outbreak of the virus at a school in the province’s interior.

WATCH: BC sets new daily record in COVID19 cases with first outbreak at a school

Trudeau's help sought in search for missing man

Trudeau's help sought in search for missing man
Memorial graduate Jordan Naterer, 25, was reported missing on Thanksgiving weekend after he didn’t return from a hike in E.C. Manning Provincial Park, 175 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Trudeau's help sought in search for missing man