Federal foot-dragging was exposed by The Hill Times this week. And it was subsequently reinforced by Page, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, in an email to the Star. “I am not aware of a process” to find someone new, he wrote. “PBO staff are concerned about transition.”
They’re not the only ones.
Since his appointment in 2008, Page has served as one of Ottawa’s most persistent, credible and forceful independent analysts. He consistently presented Parliament with financial data and analysis that broke with the Conservative government’s official line — doggedly pressing for budget openness and releasing data on the true cost of imbroglios like participation in the Afghan war and purchase of the F-35 stealth fighter. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been less than pleased.
There’s understandable concern in Ottawa, especially among opposition MPs, that the parliamentary budget office might lose direction during a drawn out search for a successor. Even worse, the person ultimately chosen could prove a lapdog to those in power instead of the vigilant watchdog this country needs.
Early in his mandate, Page indicated that he intended to serve only one term. That’s a pity. His office falls under the purview of the Library of Parliament. And the rules stipulate that, to replace him, a list of three possible candidates is to be compiled by a committee chaired by the Parliamentary Librarian, in this case Sonia L’Heureux. The government chooses a winning candidate from that list.
A first, small step in the process was only made last Friday when the library issued a request for proposals seeking an executive search firm that would look for suitable candidates for Page’s job. Once a headhunting firm has been hired, done its work, and produced a list of prospective candidates, a committee mainly composed of seasoned civil servants will be called to narrow the list to three. Then the list goes to Harper.
This is all going to take a lot of time. Clearly, with only about two months left in Page’s mandate, the process should have been launched months ago.
A key reason for Page’s departure is his desire to press for making the budget officer’s position truly independent. That means liberating it from the Library of Parliament, including the current mechanism of finding a successor. “In watchdog parlance, I am appointed by the person (the prime minister) who I am supposed to watch,” Page wrote. “I work at ‘pleasure’ and can be dismissed ‘without cause’.”
This post deserves the same freedom and authority granted to the Auditor General and similar officers of Parliament. Their appointment can’t be revoked on the whim of a prime minister. The business of holding government financially accountable is too important to warrant anything less.
Page has set a sterling example as this country’s first Parliamentary Budget Officer. He’s shown just how much can be accomplished by someone willing to use financial analysis and a commitment to fiscal transparency fully in the public interest. This office needs to be strengthened, not weakened. And it demands a timely and effective search for an expert person willing to speak truth to power.
Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Editorial
No comments:
Post a Comment