Ottawa

Does anyone want to be the next PBO?

Searching to fill the most fraught job in Ottawa

The Ottawa Citizen notes some fretting that it will be difficult to find anyone willing to be the next Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Don Drummond, the former chief economist for Toronto-Dominion Bank who was on the committee that selected Page, said the panel fielded about eight candidates but Page was the only qualified one from the start. He said the others weren’t interested because of the level of the position and anticipated the job would be nothing but headaches. The committee expected the position would be reclassified to better reflect the demands of the job.

Drummond worries that filling the job without resolving issues around the job’s classification and the office’s mandate could further weaken the PBO. “There may be another Kevin Page out there, but I am pessimistic on that front,” said Drummond. “I’d say it’s better not to have a PBO at all than to have a weak one.”

Unmentioned is Mr. Page’s suggestion that three members of his staff are contenders to replace him.

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