Roundup: The fiscal update’s hidden gem

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The fall fiscal update was delivered yesterday – in the House of Commons, it must be noted – and not unsurprisingly there are deeper deficits projected while the government pledges funds to kickstart an infrastructure bank in the hopes of attracting foreign investment. Oh, and “no path back to balance” is the phrase you’re going to hear an awful lot in the coming weeks. Probably ad nauseum. Oh, and “privatization,” as the NDP now consider the infrastructure banks (because hey, we might have to start paying for the roads and bridges that this bank might fund and we couldn’t have that). That having been said, the debt-to-GDP ratio will be the government’s saving grace when it comes to the size of the deficit, as it should remain relatively stable, while still coming in at the lowest in the G7 by a significant margin. So there’s that.

This all having been said, there were other elements in the update that bear mentioning, and which should not be overlooked, which are some of the changes to the way that Parliament operates. They’re going to make the Parliamentary Budget Officer a full Officer of Parliament (which I have mixed feelings about because this solidifies his status as an unaccountable officer for MPs to fob their homework off onto while hiding behind his analyses as “objective proof” of their partisan accusation), they’re adding new independence to Statistics Canada, and they’re going to open up the Board of Internal Economy. But more important than any of that is they’re going to do something about the Estimates cycle.

Why does this matter? Because MPs are supposed to hold the government to account by controlling the public purse, but over succeeding decades, the ways in which they do that – the Estimates and supply cycle – have become so corrupted that they no longer follow the budget cycle, their accounting methods no longer match the Public Accounts so that they can’t track spending, and in many cases, MPs just vote on the Estimates in a series of votes with zero scrutiny (leaving that job up to the Senate – naturally). So if this government is promising to put the Estimates and Budget cycle back in sync, and to clean up the discrepancies between the Estimates and the Public Accounts, that is a Very Big Deal. It means that it will let MPs do their jobs like they’re supposed to do. (We’ll see if any of them do, especially with an empowered PBO for them to fob that homework off onto, but this will certainly help him too). It’s restoring some of the proper functioning of our parliamentary democracy, and we shouldn’t ignore it.

https://twitter.com/mikepmoffatt/status/793611413419880448

Good reads:

  • The PBO says that legalised marijuana is unlikely to be a cash cow for the government, which they never intended to treat it as anyway.
  • Legislation on rolling back mandatory minimum sentences is on the way.
  • The Privacy Commissioner says the courts may need more guidance on journalists’ privacy after the issue of Montreal police tracking a journalist’s smartphone.
  • Cabinet and government lawyers are essentially at odds over retroactive elements of the previous government’s changes to the pardons system.
  • Because the government has stalled on their apology and redress for fired LGBT civil servants and military personnel, a class action lawsuit has been launched.
  • The head of Canada’s largest union made a personal donation to Kellie Leitch’s leadership campaign based on their personal friendship.
  • Kady O’Malley looks at why the Procedure and House Affairs committee has suddenly become so secretive.
  • Susan Delacourt notes the underlying message in the PBO’s examination of marijuana pricing.
  • Paul Wells questions some of the received wisdom on increasing immigration levels.
  • My Loonie Politics column this week looks at places where the latest round of Senate appointments have still left gaps in representation.

Odds and ends:

The fundraising numbers are out, and the Liberals have outdone the Conservatives while NDP donations are struggling.

Ontario may be looking to get rid of its civics course, which is alarming in a country with so much civic illiteracy (and hey, I’m quoted in this piece).

One thought on “Roundup: The fiscal update’s hidden gem”

  1. I have to point out that public infrastructure has to be paid for somehow, whether it is private or public capital that does it. The only difference is that governments can borrow money far more cheaply than private firms can, and governments can build this stuff without having to make a profit. P3 partnerships have all shown to be more expensive in the long run, and are a cop out for governments wanting to make their bottom lines look better. You should look into Nova Scotia’s 25 year venture into P3 schools. The leases are now expiring, and the province is now facing millions to buy back the 25 year old buildings, or sign another expensive lease. In other words, P3 projects just defer the costs onto the next generation of taxpayers.
    “Oh, but P3 infrastrcture can defer the costs by charging user fees,” you say. Well, user fees are one of the most regressive forms of taxation. They hit those least able to pay the hardest; and many of those that depend on the social safety net. Given a government’s reasonable responsibility to support those low income earners, it stands to reason that tax dollars will need to be used to make up those user fees to private companies.

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