How a diminished Department of Finance brings into question Canada's fiscal future

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The National Post spoke with former finance officials who expressed concern over a lack of fiscal transparency in Ottawa at a time of unprecedented deficit…

spoke with six former Department of Finance officials, including two former deputy ministers, who expressed concern over a lack of fiscal transparency in Ottawa at a time of unprecedented deficit spending. The people stressed that there has always been some degree of disagreement between the PMO, who makes decisions based on political calculations, and the much more staid Department of Finance, which has long acted as a sort of sober second thought in Ottawa.

The federal government has yet to provide an updated fiscal anchor since the beginning of the pandemic, leaving little indication of how or when it might begin to rein in COVID-19 emergency spending.Economists are nearly unanimous in their support for the $381-billion deficit Ottawa plans to run in 2021, saying it was a necessary attempt to hold over the Canadian economy.

That apparent disregard for basic fiscal hygiene plays into a much longer-running dissatisfaction among some over the increasingly vapid nature of modern budgets. “I think the Finance Department has been a bit diminished in terms of its positioning in the city and its power base — not just recently but starting under Harper,” said Clark, who served as deputy minister from 1998 to 2001.

David Dodge responds to reporters questions concerning the Monetary Policy Report, at a news conference in Ottawa, Jan 24, 2008.The move actually gave each of the departments more clout, according to some officials, and provided the opportunity to pitch spending proposals directly to the PMO. In practice, that indirectly lowered the dependence of the PMO on spending proposals drafted by Finance.

Debt costs at the time were six times the current rate, and foreign governments and investment funds had stopped buying Canada’s bonds, prompting a fiscal reckoning in Ottawa. Austerity budgets came soon after, driven in part by a PMO and finance minister who swallowed the department’s prescription pills.“People have been complaining about the centralization of power in the Prime Minister’s Office since at least Trudeau senior,” she said.

 

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Voters forget Trudeau like his ex finance minister are trust fund kids, brought up without money worries. The free unaccountable spending is a serious concern that will come back and bite big time, hopefully it is the Trudeau gang that gets bitten and not the tax payer.

Diminished, thats a nice way of putting it. These liberal clowns need to be turfed and put under investigation immediately. This is the biggest armed robbery/hijacking in Canadian history. Our people went overseas to fight to prevent invasion, and we just let them in the door.

See that guy looking over your shoulder, he will throw you under the bus just like every other strong, ambitious and honest woman he is threatened by.

If you elect dumbasses what do you expect? 😂 Canada was always bound to fail. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. Be ready for hell

'Economists are nearly unanimous in their support for the $381-billion deficit Ottawa plans to run in 2021.' jesse_snyder, what is your source for this? Who are you defining as economists?

A journalist and a drama teacher/river raft guide. Yeah!! We are going down the tubes under idiot leadership. Yeah!!

Funny the first thing that goes through my mind when I see a picture of Freeland is diminished!! What could the meaning of this be? cafreeland anyfuckingbuddy TrueNorthCentre wearefucked

cafreeland JustinTrudeau DaleWellsR WeAreCanProud PierrePoilievre CTVNews TomTSEC fordnation JohnTory realDonaldTrump geoff_buxcey KIderstine 99freemind TILivesMatter BBCBreaking PMOIndia resign COVIDIOT حربي_بالاجواء RodPhillips WINTER IS COMIMG!

Dimwitted not diminished. He not qualified to be PM and she not qualified to be Finance Minister. She published a book and a edited a paper. She has a BA in Russian history & literature and a masters in Slavonic studies from St Antony's College, Oxford. No finance education

We have a financial future? The policy mantra of the last 40 years has comically gone unopposed. History will absolutely laugh at the ignorance and arrogance of this society. Yeah let’s print money and sell all our gold reserves. Governments can’t go broke. BTW the sky is falling

How unsurprisingly sexist of you, NP.

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