The problem with changing the estimates is its multiple functions. It's a control document. The structure of the votes in it, and to a lesser extent the allotments, is a control over departments by Parliament and by the Treasury Board. The issue that faces Parliament and the Treasury Board in creating the estimates is the level of control you want to have. How many votes should there be? Should there be a vote per program or should they aggregate programs? How much control can you exercise effectively centrally? How much do you let the departments do within a vote or, to be more accurate, within an allotment within a vote? The answers we have come to in Canada are primarily derived from the experience of the Treasury Board and the departments over the years. There has been very little parliamentary input into it. I don't even know if Parliament is capable of doing it.
In your report, you might ask about the estimates going to the specialist committees in Parliament. Invite them to comment on the vote structure and the allotment structure of the budget estimates they're dealing with. You might be surprised. You might get some very helpful answers that would surprise even the government.
I think there's a large role for Parliament, because the question you have to ask as parliamentarians, ultimately, is whether you are comfortable with this system as it exists. Or do you feel that you lack both knowledge and control, even in the accountability stages? I know that many times I have heard parliamentarians express that concern about control, if we can call it that, over the budget.