Platform costing measure gets nod, but fixes for getting info needed, says PBO

A platform costing service offered by the Parliamentary Budget Officer is receiving a thumbs up from one expert, but the office is looking to Parliament to clarify an “oversight” in its powers in accessing information to do its work, ahead of the next election. In a report released Jan. 24, the PBO wrote that “legislative clarity” is needed, as the office faced questions from some bodies about their obligation to respond to its requests. Bureaucrats were uncertain if the requests for information by the PBO would be kept confidential or subject to release under the Access to Information Act, and “some separate agencies initially interpreted the legislation to prohibit their collaboration with the PBO” during the costing period, the report said. A recommendation to fix this suggests putting into writing that “organizations that are not departments are also covered,” a change that would require an amendment to the Parliament of Canada Act. Yves Giroux, who has held the role since September 2018, said some of the groups that the PBO was seeking information from included the Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Border Services Agency, and Statistics Canada. While negotiations eventually allowed his office access to data from such “quasi-departments,” he said broadening the definition in written form should help in the “oversight” and avoid the risk of his office not having access to the data. “Different leadership could have decided that ‘no, we won’t collaborate with you, because we don’t have to under the legislation,’” he said in a phone interview on Jan. 22. “So for that reason, we want legislation to be clarified that they are all included.” Sahir Khan, who was the deputy to the first parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page, commended the measure overall, but predicted that the office getting their hands on data would be a barrier. “My guess is access to information from the government might have been the most difficult part, because it’s very hard to do that much costing work in that short period of a time,” said Mr. Khan in a phone interview on Jan. 22 before the report was released online. “If you don’t have access to information, then you’re putting up numbers you’re pressured to put out numbers.” In 2017, the PBO was mandated by the Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) Liberals to offer an optional service that let parties cost their platforms, fulfilling a promise made in its 2015 campaign. Ahead of the Oct. 21 vote, the office had 120 days to do its work; according to the report, from June to October, it reviewed more than 200 requests from parties and published more than 100 cost estimates. Mr. Khan praised the “useful” initiative, saying it helped “level the playing field,” as all parties were subject to an independent analysis that used the same experts. In the past, parties could rely on their own sources to cost platforms, and could face challenges getting access to accountants and economists, Mr. Page said last year. Mr. Khan added that it also forced parties to be more realistic in their pitch to voters. “While it does take away some of the aspirational elements of the platforms, it also prepares that party for governance, and that tells citizens that there’s that much more credibility associated with it," he said. "I think that’s good for democracy.” Green Party finance critic John Kidder said he was grateful for the office’s work and his party’s experience with the process was positive. “We weren’t looking for a lot of confidential tax data, so we found that their services were pretty good,” he said in a phone interview. “I don’t think that their response to our proposals was limited by any limitations of the government collecting data.” Service to be offered again This was the first time the service was made available and is expected to remain part of Mr. Giroux’s mandate. “So far, there's no indication that parties are unhappy, we're unhappy, and there has been no indication whatsoever to remove from the mandate,” he said. With a minority Parliament, it remains unclear when the next election could be triggered (the next fixed election date is Oct. 16, 2023). Currently, the assumption is that the office has 120 days to do its work, but that could drop down if a snap election is called, said Mr. Giroux. “We could go from 120 days to something as short as 35 days,” he said, adding that the report suggests setting a "threshold" for the cost of proposals it will fully cost next time around. That figure is still being workshopped by the office, he added, and would not require any legislative changes. “The sweet spot is probably around $15 million, but it’s subject to discussions with parties,” he said. The office evaluated proposals from five major parties (Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Greens, and the Bloc Québécois), which “was more than I expected, to be honest,” said Mr. Giroux. “But I think it allowed Canadians to make better decisions when they cast their ballots, because they could be confident that the costing of the vast majority of proposals that were put before them had been costed by an independent and non-partisan office.” The Liberals faced some criticism during the campaign for submitting only big-ticket items, a move that raised some eyebrows given it was the government that implemented the process. Delaying the release of PBO reports until its full platform was released, the party said at the time that some promises were linked to the platform and releasing the PBO reports on their own “wouldn’t tell the whole story.” The Conservatives pledged to use the PBO for “every platform commitment that has dollars and cents attached to it,” but were worried about the possibility of leaks. According to the report, there were no leaks of confidential information. On top of its regular budget, the office was given an additional $500,000 for the program. Mr. Giroux said there were no additional hires and the capacity already within the office was enough for it to do its work during that period. “I don’t think we’ll need additional financial resources next time around, but it’s hard it predict with certainty,” he said. pmangat@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Platform costing measure gets nod, but fixes for getting info needed, says PBO

'Different leadership could have decided that ‘no, we won’t collaborate with you, because we don’t have to under the legislation,’ says Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux. 'We want legislation to be clarified.'

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Platform costing measure gets nod, but fixes for getting info needed, says PBO

'Different leadership could have decided that ‘no, we won’t collaborate with you, because we don’t have to under the legislation,’ says Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux. 'We want legislation to be clarified.'

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