Ottawa

Kevin Page and the search for his successor

The PBO sounds the alarm

With the committee to select the next parliamentary budget officer kept secret and an interim PBO suddenly appearing despite such a thing supposedly being impossible, Kevin Page talks to the Chronicle-Herald.

Q: Are you concerned about the process to select you successor?

A: I’ve been very worried about this whole selection committee process. We’ve been told that there’s somebody from Privy Council now sitting on the selection committee.

You know, I worked at the Privy Council Office for 10 years. The role of the Privy Council Office is to support the executive. They do not support Parliament. They support the prime minister and his office. We’re actually asking somebody (from Privy Council) to be part of the selection committee now. It taints the process.

And the Hill Times.

“It was an accident that the current PBO became a true legislative budget office. If Parliament, the media and Canadians want a true legislative budget office they will have to ‘stand up.’  The current PBO is about to go down,” Mr. Page told The Hill Times. “The process is very late. I am leaving in two weeks. We will have a budget very soon. The PBO will be in Federal Court on a reference opinion very soon. The timing of the selection process and the interim appointment of the librarian do not support the interests of Parliament. If Parliament, the media, and Canadians do not see what is unfolding and react appropriately—PBO will soon be an institution of the past. The risk is we go from the spirit of accountability to the spirit of a ‘sounding board.’”

Emily Senger rounds up three more exit interviews.

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