But the minister couldn't say whether the perceived lack of reward is a consequence of the office's mandate, or of Kevin Page, the man his party appointed as the office's first leader five years ago.
"The idea was that the parliamentary budget officer would ... report to the elected people in the House of Commons about how the government was doing in its budgeting. Sort of being a sounding board, a testing board," Flaherty said in an interview on the Global News program The West Block with Tom Clark.
"I think that course was the right course, and it could be very valuable to members of Parliament of all parties, including my own party. But (Page) is kind of wandering off and going in other places."
The tune has changed since Page first took office, when Conservative cabinet minister Peter Van Loan described him as “highly qualified for this position.”
Page’s mandate, outlined in Conservative-drafted legislation, refers to providing objective analysis to Parliament on economic trends and the state of Canada’s finances, conducting research for parliamentary committees and, if requested, providing cost estimates of federal policies on the table.
Page has acknowledged his mandate is broad, but takes issue with Flaherty’s assertion that he ever overstepped its constraints.
“With great respect to the minister of finance, there is no mention of ‘sounding board’ in the Act,” Page wrote in an email to The West Block.
If the government wants a sounding board, Page wrote, it already has a number of resources at hand including holding pre-budget consultations and hosting discussions with outside economists.
And there is no question his office has benefitted Parliament and Canadians, he said.
“We believe we have promoted fiscal transparency and have made financial analysis available to parliamentarians and Canadians that was not provided by the government and public service,” Page wrote.
The leader of the official Opposition said if it weren't for Page, Canadians could still be in the dark on the costs of buying into the F-35 program and of the war in Afghanistan.
"Every time there has been a disagreement between Kevin Page and Jim Flaherty and the Conservative government, it's Kevin Page who has been telling Canadians the truth," NDP leader Tom Mulcair said on The West Block.
Mulcair accused the Conservatives of hiding behind the guise of institutional change to eliminate opposing voices.
“The Conservatives will throw under the bus anyone who doesn't tell them what they want to hear,” Mulcair said.
His office arose from the first piece of legislation the Harper government penned after winning its initial minority in 2006 – an act intended to bolster transparency and accountability in the federal government.
The Federal Accountability Act was, they said, a response to the scandal-laden scene the preceding Liberal government left in Ottawa.
Not long after Page took the reins in 2008, it became clear he and the Conservatives did not see eye to eye.
"Mr. Page and I have had our differences. We've met," Flaherty said. “We’ve talked about the differences, and he’s offered different opinions at different times on the same subjects, which I find difficult to accept.”
These differences, whether stemming from Canada's fiscal outlook, the cost of implementing the Conservative's law-and-order agenda or the price tag on the F-35 fighter jets, have even, on occasion, prompted Flaherty to describe Page as unreliable and unbelievable.
The clash came to a head late last year when Page took the Harper government to court after it refused to turn over information pertaining to spending and personnel cuts announced in Budget 2012.
The government listed several reasons for holding on to the information, including its continued belief that Page was overstepping his mandate – a position opposition parties and Page dismiss as foolish.
“The PBO mandate is very, very broad, and the PBO budget is very limited,” Page wrote. “There is a difference between ‘overstepping’ or ‘pushing the envelope’ and being ‘effective and efficient.’ We believe PBO has given its best efforts to be effective and efficient.”
During his interview, Flaherty wouldn’t commit to a renewed mandate for the next budget officer, but said that he, personally, would like to see some changes.
"I think that the mandate perhaps could be better defined," he said.
Page’s five-year term wraps in March, yet the government has given no indication to who will replace him, nor of how far along it is in the process of finding a replacement.
Soon after Page took office, he began advocating a legislative review for his successor, which would include an overhaul of the appointments process, reconsidering the office’s limited independence and revisiting its mandate.
Original Article
Source: globalnews.ca
Author: Amy Minsky
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