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?