Citizens’ services minister ‘unsexiest’ title, but ‘lack of spotlight’ on Beech not bad news politically, say observers
Former Liberal staffer Olivier Cullen says that Terry Beech has quietly taken passports out of the opposition’s ‘arsenal,’ but former NDP staffer Cam Holmstrom says ‘the sad irony is’ the government needed more delivery-focussed ministers from the start.
Feds need to be accountable as Canadian diplomats’ health-care woes persist: union head
‘We’re kind of at a loss of how to get the government to accept this responsibility,’ says PAFSO president Pamela Isfeld.
Rising public debt costs form large share of feds’ latest $12.7-billion spending plan
Total released spending plans now sit at $461.8-billion, or 90 per cent of the amount outlined in the April budget for 2024-25. That percentage is on pace with the last two years by this time, but both years the Liberals surpassed their budget plans by billions of dollars.
Hard to see the ‘big picture’: Canada must improve how budget and estimates are presented, say public finance experts
Many experts say the budget should be presented before the main estimates, possibly on a fixed annual date. Liberal MP John McKay says MPs must ‘mine for the gold’ in the current system, while Tory MP Stephanie Kusie says the entire process must be ‘completely overhauled.’
Former Treasury Board president Scott Brison’s estimates reforms were ‘top-down,’ and MPs need ‘bottom-up’ approach for better spending scrutiny: ex-PBO Kevin Page
MPs are supposed to scrutinize more than $400-billion in government spending this year, but often they don’t have a clue what they’re doing. Experts say the spending estimates cycle needs to change so MPs can get a better handle on public funds.
It’s difficult to ‘follow the money’: former MPs, bureaucrats, and PBOs say budget and estimates process makes it tough for Parliament to hold government spending to account
As the government prepares to table its budget in April, individual MPs and Senators have ‘very little influence’ on spending, says Parliamentary Budget Office Yves Giroux.
Reducing red tape to make Canada a better place for business
The necessary measures in Bill S-6, together with broader initiatives to modernize our regulatory system, are non-partisan issues that have the potential to deliver wide ranging benefits to Canadians. Let’s work together to pass Bill S-6 into law.
PBO analysis finds government slow to implement budget even as overall spending rises
Parliamentary Budgetary Officer Yves Giroux said the latest Supplementary Estimates revealed the government has only sought approval for about 60 per cent of the proposed spending from Budget 2023 so far this year.
Federal revenue, property, money losses spike to $534.2-million in 2022-23
An inverse of the previous year’s trends, lost public property cases were down in 2022-23, but the associated costs were higher, with 17,400 cases valued at $236.6-million.
Federal spending dropped four per cent in 2022-23 as public debt charges continue climb
Finance Canada was the highest-spending department for the second year in a row at $117.8-billion, and ministerial office expenditures rose by $18.2-million in 2022-23.
