Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Budget watchdog may sue gov’t over lack of information

Fed up with what he calls a lack of transparency about federal budget cuts, parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page says he will give the Conservative government one more chance to explain the cutbacks, or he may sue.

Page told CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife late Friday he will send one more letter to the government asking officials to explain billions of dollars in cuts. If he doesn’t get a response, Page said he may consider suing for information.

Page said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government has deliberately kept Canadians in the dark on reductions in various departments, including food inspection, border security and airline safety.

Earlier this month, Page said he plans to publish his own analysis of the impacts of budget cuts because the government has not been forthcoming with information.

He said he would release quarterly reports on the effects of billions of dollars in cutbacks using data collected by the receiver general and federal organizations.

Although the government tables financial reports in Parliament on a regular basis, Page has said they are often lacking in details. He also said many of those reports are issued months after MPs vote on a related issue.

Page has repeatedly accused the Harper government of failing to provide him with data he needs to do his job.

He also often disagrees with government policies, drawing the ire of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty earlier this year by calling the old age security program sustainable, contrary to Flaherty’s assessment.

Original Article
Source: ctvnews.ca
Author: CTVNews.ca Staff 

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