How important is it? It's very important. As a function that provides services to parliamentarians, it is important for the capacity of an independent officer of Parliament to provide transparency, to be honest and open in providing information to parliamentarians on a non-partisan basis, and also to have a positive relationship with the public service. I think the culture of the public service will have to undergo some evolution in terms of accepting what the parliamentary budget officer is doing for the parliamentarians, hence the importance of independence.
On May 10th, 2017. See this statement in context.