Prime Minister Stephen Harper created a new Cabinet Priorities and Planning Subcommittee on Government Administration last week and opposition MPs say they hope it will shed more light on the impact of the government’s budget cuts, but are concerned it could mean more cuts.
“I think it’s clear that the purpose of this committee is to find what they call ‘savings’ and ‘efficiencies,’ which is double-speak for trying to find other places in the public service that they can cut, and clearly they’re not satisfied with the level of cuts they’ve made and so they’re trying to find more,” said NDP MP Mathieu Ravignat (Pontiac, Que.).
“What I hope this committee can actually do is provide some transparency with regard to how the cuts affect services to Canadians. That’s something we haven’t seen,” he said.
On Sept. 13, Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) announced the creation of the new Cabinet subcommittee that has been mandated “to consider proposals on whole-of-government opportunities for improved efficiency and effectiveness.”
“The subcommittee will work to determine if there are any additional, common sense improvements to be made in government,” Prime Minister Harper stated in the release. “This is an example of our government’s commitment to spending Canadian taxpayers’ money responsibly by looking for potentially unnecessary expenses.”
Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) will chair the sub-committee, while Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies (Macleod, Alta.) will vice-chair. Labour Minister Lisa Raitt (Halton, Ont.), Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.), Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Maxime Bernier (Beauce, Que.), Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification Lynne Yelich (Blackstrap, Sask.), and Conservative MP Rob Moore (Fundy Royal, N.B.). Conservative MP Ron Cannan (Kelowna-Lake Country, B.C.) and Conservative MP Mike Lake (Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, Alta.) have been sworn in as Privy Councillors.
Cabinet’s Priorities and Planning Committee, headed by Mr. Harper, is the primary decision-making group in Cabinet. It’s known for steering the long-term policy priorities of the government.
“Of course, any government needs to take a look at the public service in general, but also the way services are delivered to Canadians in order for them to become more effective, and yes, to a certain extent more efficient, but…the pursuing of [the government’s] austerity agenda has already resulted in cuts to many frontline services,” said Mr. Ravignat, who added that he’s concerned the sub-committee concentrates “too much power in the hands of the PMO.”
“If we talk about EI for example, EI wait times have risen to 12 weeks, that’s three months without a cheque, some Canadians just can’t deal with that particular financial situation,” he said.
Liberal MP John McCallum (Markham-Unionville, Ont.), a vice-chair of the House Government Operations Committee, told The Hill Times that “in principal” it’s a good management idea to have a committee “responsible for a whole-of-government view of efficiency,” and pointed out that under former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin’s government, when Mr. McCallum was serving as Revenue minister, he chaired Cabinet’s Expenditure Review Committee, which he said was a “similar concept.”
In a Sept. 13 interview on Sun New Network’s Byline with Brian Lilley, Mr. Harper said while he still hopes to have a balanced budget before the next election, but at present “our first objective is not balancing the budget, our first objective is to make sure the Canadian economy keeps growing.” Mr. Harper estimated that the current federal deficit sits between $24-billion to $25-billion.
Mr. Ravignat said it’s “basic respect” to let taxpayers know how the services they’re paying in to are being effected, but said, ultimately, he thinks “it’s very unlikely” the government will use this sub-committee to provide more transparency.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page has been fighting for the release of details of how government departments and programs will be impacted by the cuts being made as part of the government’s efforts to balance the budget. On Sept. 5, frustrated by a lack of government transparency, Mr. Page said he would release quarterly reports on the effect of $37-billion of federal cuts over five years announced as part of the past three budgets, starting later this month.
Mr. McCallum said the fact that Mr. Clement is chairing the committee “doesn’t inspire confidence ... given his past record on overspending,” referring to the 2010 $50-million G-8 funding scandal in Mr. Clement’s riding. Mr. Callum said while the presence of two non-Cabinet ministers—Mr. Lake and Mr. Cannan—was “a little bit peculiar,” he said he has no objections and most of the committee is “similar to the people who were on the committee that did the cuts, so there’s a certain continuity.”
While Mr. Cannan is not a Cabinet minister, he sits on the House Government Operations Committee. Mr. Lake is Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Industry Christian Paradis (Mégantic-L’Érable, Que.).
The new committee has a similar mandate to the former Treasury Board Subcommittee on the Strategic and Operating Review, which was set up last year to review proposals for the cuts to the public service over three years.
That committee received proposals detailing scenarios for five and 10 per cent cuts from deputy ministers in each of the government’s departments and agencies. After months of deliberations, the Treasury Board subcommittee ultimately made recommendations on how much should be cut from each portfolio, and where.
Ultimately, the government announced in the 2012 budget that $5.2-billion over three years would be cut from department’s direct spending budgets.
Also led by Mr. Clement and vice-chaired by Mr. Menzies, that group consisted of Government Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton (Ontario), Defence Minister Peter MacKay (Central Nova, N.S.), Human Resources Minister Diane Finley (Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.), Mr. Paradis, Ms. Raitt, Mr. Oliver and Mr. Hawn.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: LAURA RYCKEWAERT
“I think it’s clear that the purpose of this committee is to find what they call ‘savings’ and ‘efficiencies,’ which is double-speak for trying to find other places in the public service that they can cut, and clearly they’re not satisfied with the level of cuts they’ve made and so they’re trying to find more,” said NDP MP Mathieu Ravignat (Pontiac, Que.).
“What I hope this committee can actually do is provide some transparency with regard to how the cuts affect services to Canadians. That’s something we haven’t seen,” he said.
On Sept. 13, Mr. Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) announced the creation of the new Cabinet subcommittee that has been mandated “to consider proposals on whole-of-government opportunities for improved efficiency and effectiveness.”
“The subcommittee will work to determine if there are any additional, common sense improvements to be made in government,” Prime Minister Harper stated in the release. “This is an example of our government’s commitment to spending Canadian taxpayers’ money responsibly by looking for potentially unnecessary expenses.”
Treasury Board President Tony Clement (Parry Sound-Muskoka, Ont.) will chair the sub-committee, while Minister of State for Finance Ted Menzies (Macleod, Alta.) will vice-chair. Labour Minister Lisa Raitt (Halton, Ont.), Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver (Eglinton-Lawrence, Ont.), Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Maxime Bernier (Beauce, Que.), Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification Lynne Yelich (Blackstrap, Sask.), and Conservative MP Rob Moore (Fundy Royal, N.B.). Conservative MP Ron Cannan (Kelowna-Lake Country, B.C.) and Conservative MP Mike Lake (Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont, Alta.) have been sworn in as Privy Councillors.
Cabinet’s Priorities and Planning Committee, headed by Mr. Harper, is the primary decision-making group in Cabinet. It’s known for steering the long-term policy priorities of the government.
“Of course, any government needs to take a look at the public service in general, but also the way services are delivered to Canadians in order for them to become more effective, and yes, to a certain extent more efficient, but…the pursuing of [the government’s] austerity agenda has already resulted in cuts to many frontline services,” said Mr. Ravignat, who added that he’s concerned the sub-committee concentrates “too much power in the hands of the PMO.”
“If we talk about EI for example, EI wait times have risen to 12 weeks, that’s three months without a cheque, some Canadians just can’t deal with that particular financial situation,” he said.
Liberal MP John McCallum (Markham-Unionville, Ont.), a vice-chair of the House Government Operations Committee, told The Hill Times that “in principal” it’s a good management idea to have a committee “responsible for a whole-of-government view of efficiency,” and pointed out that under former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin’s government, when Mr. McCallum was serving as Revenue minister, he chaired Cabinet’s Expenditure Review Committee, which he said was a “similar concept.”
In a Sept. 13 interview on Sun New Network’s Byline with Brian Lilley, Mr. Harper said while he still hopes to have a balanced budget before the next election, but at present “our first objective is not balancing the budget, our first objective is to make sure the Canadian economy keeps growing.” Mr. Harper estimated that the current federal deficit sits between $24-billion to $25-billion.
Mr. Ravignat said it’s “basic respect” to let taxpayers know how the services they’re paying in to are being effected, but said, ultimately, he thinks “it’s very unlikely” the government will use this sub-committee to provide more transparency.
Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page has been fighting for the release of details of how government departments and programs will be impacted by the cuts being made as part of the government’s efforts to balance the budget. On Sept. 5, frustrated by a lack of government transparency, Mr. Page said he would release quarterly reports on the effect of $37-billion of federal cuts over five years announced as part of the past three budgets, starting later this month.
Mr. McCallum said the fact that Mr. Clement is chairing the committee “doesn’t inspire confidence ... given his past record on overspending,” referring to the 2010 $50-million G-8 funding scandal in Mr. Clement’s riding. Mr. Callum said while the presence of two non-Cabinet ministers—Mr. Lake and Mr. Cannan—was “a little bit peculiar,” he said he has no objections and most of the committee is “similar to the people who were on the committee that did the cuts, so there’s a certain continuity.”
While Mr. Cannan is not a Cabinet minister, he sits on the House Government Operations Committee. Mr. Lake is Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Industry Christian Paradis (Mégantic-L’Érable, Que.).
The new committee has a similar mandate to the former Treasury Board Subcommittee on the Strategic and Operating Review, which was set up last year to review proposals for the cuts to the public service over three years.
That committee received proposals detailing scenarios for five and 10 per cent cuts from deputy ministers in each of the government’s departments and agencies. After months of deliberations, the Treasury Board subcommittee ultimately made recommendations on how much should be cut from each portfolio, and where.
Ultimately, the government announced in the 2012 budget that $5.2-billion over three years would be cut from department’s direct spending budgets.
Also led by Mr. Clement and vice-chaired by Mr. Menzies, that group consisted of Government Senate Leader Marjory LeBreton (Ontario), Defence Minister Peter MacKay (Central Nova, N.S.), Human Resources Minister Diane Finley (Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.), Mr. Paradis, Ms. Raitt, Mr. Oliver and Mr. Hawn.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: LAURA RYCKEWAERT
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