Madam chair, members of the committee, thank you very much. Ms. Marleau has informed you that Mr. Young is unable to be here, as he is ill. He sends his regrets.
However, given your interest and because of the specific reason for this meeting, Mr. Young thought we should proceed as planned so that you can initiate a dialogue with the new parliamentary budget officer.
Mr. Young has asked me to make a few very brief opening remarks. I will then hand the floor over to my colleague, Mr. Kevin Page.
I welcome the opportunity to appear before the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates. As you mentioned, I am here today with Kevin Page, Canada's first Parliamentary Budget Officer.
As you are aware, Parliament legislated these new functions, creating an officer of the Library of Parliament—a position that would operate within the Library's established mandate of providing authoritative, reliable, non-partisan and independent knowledge and information to parliamentarians.
For the Library of Parliament, and we think for you as parliamentarians, the creation of a parliamentary budget officer constitutes a significant initiative to strengthen Parliament's ability to hold the government to account. As the oversight committee for government operations and supply, we believe you can play an important role in making the parliamentary budget officer an effective instrument for Parliament, one that complements, not competes with, the work and resources currently available to improve parliamentarians' understanding of the fiscal position of the government.
What is fundamentally important is that the parliamentary budget officer add value to your work. As such, we know we would benefit greatly from your insights as we begin implementing new services through the PBO.
In fact, I might suggest exploring a consultative approach as a vital part of the Library's efforts to shape these new functions to serve parliamentarians effectively.
An ongoing, informal dialogue with members will help us deal with the questions that will certainly arise as statutory provisions are interpreted and given life through the delivery of this new service. What are the specific needs and requirements of parliamentarians? How should priorities be set in the face of competing demands? Who better to answer these questions than the clients of these services? I hope you agree.
Kevin Page, the man who took on the formidable challenge of being Canada's first parliamentary budget officer, started work with the Library of Parliament just after Easter. For those of you who may not have seen his curriculum vitae, I believe copies are available.
Kevin is one of a very few individuals with experience working on relevant fiscal forecasting and policy and expenditure portfolios within all three central economic agencies. His broad perspective will be of tremendous value to parliamentarians, and certainly, if required, to the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates.
As you will see, Kevin is a “people person” with a good sense of humour and a great reputation.
I am told that his phone is already ringing off the hook with calls from skilled professionals who want to work with him. This is great news for Parliament.
It is also a huge opportunity for us to build the Library's research capacity and add value to the services that we already provide to parliamentarians.
Thank you for the invitation to appear before you this morning.
I will now hand the floor over to my colleague, Kevin Page.