Evidence of meeting #30 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was budget.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Kevin Page  Parliamentary Budget Officer, Library of Parliament
Sahir Khan  Assistant Parliamentary Budget Officer, Expenditure and Revenue Analysis, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Library of Parliament
Jason Jacques  Director, Budget, Estimates and Reporting, Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Library of Parliament

5 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Pat Martin

Thank you, Mike. I think that would be an interesting exercise.

I want to thank you, Mr. Page, for both the tone and content of your presentation today. I think it was very stimulating and very interesting. I find it a little gratifying. I'm not a rookie MP. This is my sixth term, and I can't make hide nor hair or sense out of the estimates. It's incomprehensible gobbledygook, and I'm starting to understand that maybe it's not me. Maybe it was by design that there is a—

5 p.m.

Conservative

Mike Wallace Conservative Burlington, ON

No, it's you.

5 p.m.

NDP

The Chair NDP Pat Martin

Maybe it's partly me, but I think it is a very important exercise, and I actually appreciate the non-partisan nature of the interest here. It is a genuine concern that people should be able to understand the country's accounts, especially if you're going to be asked to vote for or against them. It's a necessary work that this committee is doing.

Thank you very much. Maybe we'll even ask you back again as we move further with this project. Thank you very much for being here, all of you.

We have a bit of a planning meeting now for probably 15 or 20 minutes, so we can suspend and reopen in camera.

This meeting is adjourned, and we will begin a new planning meeting in a few moments.

[Proceedings continue in camera]