Public Accounts committee  Yes.

Public Accounts committee  Sir, if I may speak to whether this would be my report or the Prime Minister's report, the Parliamentary Budget Officer will be releasing reports, and they will be reports of the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Public Accounts committee  That is what I intend to do.

Public Accounts committee  I think, sir, there are probably even officials in the Department of Finance who disagree with other officials in the Department of Finance over forecasts.

Public Accounts committee  The Department of Finance, as you know, sir, actually in terms of forecasting and establishing a fiscal framework, takes an average of 20 private sector economic forecasts. We will have access to that information, so we'll be able to look at those ranges. The Department of Finance takes a numerical average.

Public Accounts committee  What we will try to do, sir, is to ensure that people understand the range of assumptions that are underlying those economic forecasts and what they mean in fiscal planning terms. I don't think anybody has, as you know, sir, a perfect crystal ball, whether you look at errors of private sector forecasts over the past 10 years or the Department of Finance.

Public Accounts committee  Sir, I think the credibility of the Parliamentary Budget Officer will come from our ability to provide comprehension of what is involved in those economic forecasts and how it implicates the fiscal framework. The more we bring anything to the table, in terms of a better understanding of the risk and the ranges that would meet your fiscal framework, the more it will add credibility.

Public Accounts committee  That is an excellent question. I will have to allocate my budget between permanent and temporary resources. We'll be looking at that over the next few months. It's a similar question to the one raised previously by a member here, in terms of what our priorities will be. We'll be establishing a budget over the next few months.

Public Accounts committee  Yes. It would be important that our level will be set at top secret or secret. I could say that of the two directors we've hired already. Mr. Khan has a top secret clearance, and Mostafa Askari has also worked in the fiscal environment at the Department of Finance, which has similar security.

Public Accounts committee  We will look at it. I thank you for this question. We would have to hire people able to provide the required services. I was at the assistant deputy minister level in the public service. Mr. Khan was at a director general level. So our two directors will be at a director general level.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question, Mr. Williams, and for your expression of goodwill in terms of my having that opportunity to work with you. In terms of looking ahead at those two sorts of milestones and the role the Parliamentary Budget Officer will play in regard to those milestones, we would like as much as possible to be anticipatory in terms of looking at numbers going in so that we would have an opportunity to brief you as to what are the issues around the economic trends, what they mean fiscally, and how they may impact the fiscal planning frameworks, particularly in terms of risk and what they may mean in the broad range of possible economic outcomes that exist right now.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question, sir. First of all, I'll just comment about the reputation of the Congressional Budget Office: it is stellar. It is a highly used institution, perhaps even a model that we can aspire to, even though it exists within a very different system, a congressional system versus our Westminster system.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Lussier. It would be impossible for us to have a budget equal to that of the Congressional Budget Office. We have a budget, a status quo budget of about $2.7 million. I believe the budget of the Congressional Budget Office is upwards of $50 million.

Public Accounts committee  Our resources are part of the estimates of the Library of Parliament and will be established in that kind of context. The issue of resourcing came up at the two previous meetings. Concerns have been expressed, sir, as to whether or not there are sufficient resources. I think at this point, as we're just building and looking ahead at our budget this year and next year, our budget for this year is about $1.8 million, rising to $2.7 million next year.

Public Accounts committee  Thank you for the question, sir. In terms of the capacity we'll need and how we will go about putting this capacity in place, as I said, the first phase is the consultation phase. It's really important that we take full opportunity for these types of meetings and have opportunities to meet with you individually or in groups so that we can get a better sense of those priorities in order to best serve you.