With due respect, Mr. Chairman, our position is perfectly in compliance with the provisions of the act. The act provides that the Parliamentary Budget Officer must be an employee of the Library of Parliament. If Parliament wished to establish a position similar to those of other parliamentary officers, that is to say, a completely independent position with an independent office outside existing structures, we would have had our orders and the position would have been clear. However, since the act provides that the Parliamentary Budget Officer must be an employee of the Library of Parliament, that means the Parliamentary Budget Officer would be part of the framework governing parliamentary employees. This is not a decision made by the government, but an inherent aspect of the parliamentary structure.
On February 13th, 2008. See this statement in context.