Mr. Speaker, our government strongly believes in increasing transparency in government spending here in Parliament.
I hear some of my colleagues doubting what I am saying, but let me quote how former finance officials, Peter DeVries and Scott Clark, described the criticism of the budget implementation vote. They called it unwarranted. I will share three things they said about the budget implementation vote. First, they said it is “a more comprehensive reconciliation between the budget spending proposals and the estimates”. That is what this legislation would now do. Second, they said that there are “sufficient controls to ensure that this Vote cannot be used as a slush fund”. Third, they said that this gives parliamentarians, all of the members here in the House, “more information than in the past”.
I am proud of this. Many parliamentarians are proud of these initiatives and efforts toward increasing transparency and accountability. I would ask the hon. member, who follows this issue very closely, what he has to say about the thoughts of these former senior mandarins and public servants at Finance Canada.