Kevin Page made the request in a letter he distributed Thursday to MPs and senators. It came in the wake of a withering attack last week from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who accused Page of releasing conflicting analyses that made no sense.
But Page defended the work of his office, saying it maintains its non-partisan independence and adopts "widely-used" concepts that are employed by budget offices in the United States and in Britain.
Moreover, Page turned the tables on the government and called on it to release key information "in the interests of budget transparency and accountability."
Specifically, he urged the government to publish "medium-term" projections on the GDP, and other fiscal questions.
"I would also strongly encourage the Government of Canada to fulfil the commitment it made in Budget 2007 to publish a 'comprehensive fiscal sustainability and intergenerational report,' " wrote Page.
That budget, which was Flaherty's second as finance minister, promised to release a report later that year that would "provide a broad analysis of current and future demographic changes and the implication of these changes for Canada's long-run economic and fiscal outlook."
Moreover, Flaherty's budget said that "publication of a report on fiscal sustainability is motivated by the government's view that maintaining sustainable public finances at all orders of government is a critical condition to achieving intergenerational equity and strong and sustained economic growth."
Four years later, the report has not been released — raising the prospect that the governing Tories are deliberately hiding research conducted at taxpayer expense because it does not suitably support the government's political plans.
In an interview with Postmedia News Thursday, Page said the government's refusal to release key reports such as this is notable — given that the Tories are planning cutbacks in the rate of growth for health transfers to provinces and for the Old Age Security (OAS) pension plan.
He said Flaherty is "making multibillion-dollar decisions that are going to affect the future of this country, that are going to affect fiscal federalism, that will affect the provinces."
"And where's their analysis? Nada. Nothing."
By comparison, he said his small office of about a dozen people has produced reports on these issues — even though those workers are hampered by the government's refusal to share its own fiscal projections.
"If we can do this with a handful of people, why can't they do it?"
Flaherty's spokesman, Chisholm Pothier, said the government's "focus" has been to guide the country through "the global economic turbulence" through recent budgets.
"Nevertheless, the government has been examining and will continue to examine issues such as fiscal sustainability and intergenerational changes on an ongoing basis."
Still, there is no indication that the government is prepared to fulfil its 2007 pledge by releasing a report to Canadians.
NDP finance critic Peter Julian said Thursday that all available evidence shows the pension system is sustainable, and the government should release the report it once promised.
"The government, if it was responsible, would have conducted the report and released the report. They haven't, they've been trying to spin this issue out. That's why I think they have lost credibility with Canadian seniors."
Last month, the pensions issue was catapulted to the top of the country's political agenda when Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in a speech in Davos, Switzerland, that the future costs of the pension system would be scaled back to keep it affordable.
Harper said the country's demographics — an aging population and a dwindling workforce — constitute "a threat to the social programs and services that Canadians cherish."
Since then, the government has offered few details, beyond Harper confirming in an interview with Postmedia News that the government is considering increasing the eligibility age for OAS, which provides benefits for people once they turn 65.
Opposition parties say Harper has created a "manufactured crisis" about the future sustainability of pensions. The government says the cost of the OAS, without reforms, will soar to $108 billion in 2030 from $36.5 billion in 2010.
But critics say that, in fact, when viewed as a ratio of Canada's GDP, the increase in pension costs won't be so stark.
Original Article
Source: calgary herald
Author: Mark Kennedy
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