Finance Committee on Feb. 13th, 2008

[Marc O'Sullivan]

I don't know, because the Library of Parliament has assumed responsibility for the process.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

I will put the question very clearly: will the person who is soon to be appointed—you did give us that hint—be able to speak French if he or she appears before the committee?

[Marc O'Sullivan]

Yes.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

That is part of the requirements.

[Marc O'Sullivan]

I don't know whether that was part of the requirements, but...

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

But the answer is yes. That's fine.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you.

We have a little bit more time and we have one more questioner.

Monsieur Laforest, the floor is yours for a couple of quick questions.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

My comments are in line with the question my colleague Mr. Crête asked earlier.

The new incumbent to the PBO position will have to provide a variety of analyses on the status of public finances to members of Parliament and to a variety of House of Commons committees. I imagine he will have to deal with publics accounts, the Department of Finance, Treasury Board Secretariat and Treasury Board, where he will glean information in order to produce those analyses.

Mr. Crête wanted to know who would act as arbitrator in the event of problems or disputes. You responded that at present there was no arbitration process. I find that saying at the outset that there will be no arbitration mechanism is a somewhat dysfunctional approach. Given the amounts and the scope of the structures involved—an annual budget of $250 billion and many budget items—something is bound to go wrong at some point. The Auditor General often encounters those snags.

So what will the Parliamentary Budget Officer do in order to discharge his or her task?

[Joe Wild]

I think there are a couple things. One is that the parliamentary budget officer ultimately works for parliamentarians. From the perspective of public servants, we take very seriously inquiries from the officers of Parliament, whether they're from analysts in the library today or from the parliamentary budget officer. I think part of our role as public servants is to be very respectful of those requests when we receive them. I think we treat them in a timely manner and as efficiently as we can, in responding to them.

But in the event that for some reason there were some kind of a conflict, the parliamentary budget officer would have recourse through a political avenue to raise his or her concerns with the adequacy of response that he or she was receiving from the department with the member of Parliament or the committee of Parliament that has asked the parliamentary budget officer to pursue the matter. Then that committee or that member has certain tools available, through the political process and the procedures of Parliament, to put pressure upon the government if they feel things are not going the way they should be.

So I wouldn't say there's absolutely nothing there at the end of the day. I think what's there are all of the procedures and everything else this place has, and I think it has fairly significant tools to ensure that it gets answers from government.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Let me give you an example. In presenting one of her reports last year, the Auditor General told the public accounts committee that she had not been given access to some figures and documents by Treasury Board. I don't remember the exact topic, but she did at least have the power to say in her report that she had not had such access. We asked questions, and learned about it.

Will the Parliamentary Budget Officer have the opportunity to produce similar annual reports, so that any barriers he or she encounters can be mentioned? I believe this would make the process even more transparent, and transparency is something parliamentarians will need.

[Joe Wild]

I don't see any limit, in the legislation, on the parliamentary budget officer's ability to go back to whoever has made the request and to investigate something and report back an issue that the officer is having with obtaining the necessary information from a government department.

[Jean-Yves Laforest, Bloc, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Thank you.

Thank you for coming in. Thank you for the job you do. We look forward to the appointment of the parliamentary budget officer.

With that, I want to thank the members for their questions, and we would call this meeting....

There's a point of order.

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

I did table a motion with the clerk on Monday. I believe it's been circulated. I believe the clerk has received it. I was wondering if we could consider that at this time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

No, we won't. You have circulated it--that's true--but it hasn't had the 36 hours necessary according to the standing order of the committee. The ruling is 36 hours from the time the committee receives it. Actually, I checked with the previous clerk to make sure that was the case, and the clerk said that was the practice of this committee, and that is the way I interpret the rules of order. So that will be taken at the next meeting.

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Could I ask the clerk for an interpretation? This was submitted to you at three on February 11. That's 48 hours ago.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

The clerk can't circulate anything unless it's in two official languages. It will be done at 8 o'clock tomorrow. That's my ruling.

[Rick Dykstra, Conservative, St. Catharines, ON]

Just a point of clarification, Mr. Chair, we have folks sitting here.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

Yes, we do. They can be dismissed, for sure.

This one is over. I've ruled on it.

That's a point of order, right?

[Garth Turner, Liberal, Halton, ON]

Can we have some more clarity?

Surely we have five minutes, and we can kick this around so at least it's a little clearer to the members of the committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Merrifield]

There's only one way, Mr. Turner, that I'll accept any more discussion on this, and that's if there's unanimous consent to consider it.

I don't hear it.

With that, the meeting is adjourned.