Save Kevin Page and the PBO!
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Common Interest -
Description:
Kevin Page was appointed as Canada's first Parliamentary Budget Officer in 2006, and was given the task of providing independent analysis "directly to Parliament" about the "state of ... finances and trends in the national economy." The office was set up with a bare-bones budget and staff, with the promise that funding would be substantially increased.

That promise is being broken, and the PBO's independence and effectiveness are being threatened.

Kevin Page has proved time and again that he... (read more)
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Save Kevin Page and the PBO!
Category:
Common Interest -
Description:
Kevin Page was appointed as Canada's first Parliamentary Budget Officer in 2006, and was given the task of providing independent analysis "directly to Parliament" about the "state of ... finances and trends in the national economy." The office was set up with a bare-bones budget and staff, with the promise that funding would be substantially increased.

That promise is being broken, and the PBO's independence and effectiveness are being threatened.

Kevin Page has proved time and again that he... (read more)
Privacy Type:
Open: All content is public.

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News:
Showdown looms over budget watchdog

STEVEN CHASE

April 3, 2009

OTTAWA -- A showdown is looming over restoring full funding for a parliamentary budget watchdog whose resources were cut after he angered the Harper government by questioning rosy Conservative economic forecasts and Ottawa's lowball price tag for the Afghanistan war.

Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page was promised $2.7-million in funds after taking office in March, 2008, but even before his first year ended, he found his budget shrunk by a third - forcing him to cut staff.

This week, the opposition-dominated Commons finance committee tried to embarrass the minority Conservative government into giving Mr. Page the fiscal resources he was promised, passing a report calling for the restitution of his full budget over the objections of Tory MPs.

But yesterday, House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken quashed the report, agreeing with the Tory government that decisions about Mr. Page's budget are outside the mandate of the finance committee.

Read more:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090403.PAGE03ISLART2158/TPStory/National