Improving Transparency and Parliamentary Oversight of the Government’S Spending Plans
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT’S SPENDING PLANS Report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates Tom Lukiwski, Chair JANUARY 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. Reproduction or use outside this permission or without authorization may be treated as copyright infringement in accordance with the Copyright Act. Authorization may be obtained on written application to the Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Reproduction in accordance with this permission does not constitute publication under the authority of the House of Commons. The absolute privilege that applies to the proceedings of the House of Commons does not extend to these permitted reproductions. Where a reproduction includes briefs to a Standing Committee of the House of Commons, authorization for reproduction may be required from the authors in accordance with the Copyright Act. Nothing in this permission abrogates or derogates from the privileges, powers, immunities and rights of the House of Commons and its Committees. For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT’S SPENDING PLANS Report of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates Tom Lukiwski Chair JANUARY 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND ESTIMATES CHAIR Tom Lukiwski VICE-CHAIRS Daniel Blaikie Yasmin Ratansi MEMBERS Gérard Deltell Francis Drouin Majid Jowhari Steven MacKinnon (Parliamentary Secretary — Non-Voting Member) Kelly McCauley Alexandra Mendès Joyce Murray (Parliamentary Secretary — Non-Voting Member) Kyle Peterson Jean Yip OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Ramez Ayoub Hon. Steven Blaney Alupa A. Clarke David de Burgh Graham Raj Grewal Pat Kelly Brenda Shanahan Erin Weir Nick Whalen CLERKS OF THE COMMITTEE Leif-Erik Aune iii Paul Cardegna Caroline Massicotte Philippe Grenier-Michaud Patrick Williams LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Raphaëlle Deraspe, Analyst Lindsay McGlashan, Analyst Billy Joe Siekierski, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND ESTIMATES has the honour to present its SIXTEENTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(3)(c)(vii), the Committee has studied the estimates process and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................. 1 LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 3 IMPROVING TRANSPARENCY AND PARLIAMENTARY OVERSIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT’S SPENDING PLANS ................................................................................................ 7 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER 1: ALIGNING THE FEDERAL BUDGET AND THE MAIN ESTIMATES .......... 10 1.1 Main components of the Parliamentary Financial Cycle ................................. 11 1.2 Improving the Alignment of the Processes .......................................................... 13 1.3 Better Collaboration between Departments........................................................ 15 1.4 New Deadline for the Main Estimates .................................................................... 15 1.5 Temporary Changes ...................................................................................................... 17 1.5.1 First Fiscal Year under the Temporary Changes ......................................... 20 1.6 Other jurisdictions ......................................................................................................... 21 1.7 Striking the Right Balance ........................................................................................... 24 1.8 Next Steps .......................................................................................................................... 25 1.9 Committee Observations and Recommendations ............................................. 26 CHAPTER 2: A NEW CENTRAL BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION VOTE ............................... 29 2.1 Budget Implementation Vote ..................................................................................... 29 2.2 Parliamentary Committees ......................................................................................... 33 2.3 Departmental Plans ....................................................................................................... 35 2.4 Committee Observations and Recommendations ............................................. 36 CHAPTER 3: ACCOUNTING FOR APPROPRIATIONS .............................................................. 39 3.1 Comparing the Estimates to the Federal Budget and the Public Accounts ............................................................................................................... 39 vii 3.2 Past Recommendations and Actions ....................................................................... 40 3.3 Benefits and Challenges of Moving to Accrual-Based Estimates Appropriations ................................................................................................................ 42 3.4 Other Jurisdictions ......................................................................................................... 44 3.5 Transition Considerations .......................................................................................... 45 3.6 Committee Observations and Recommendations ............................................. 46 CHAPTER 4: INTRODUCING A PURPOSE-BASED VOTE STRUCTURE ............................. 48 4.1 Vote Structure .................................................................................................................. 48 4.2 Pilot Project on Purpose-Based Votes .................................................................... 49 4.3 Balancing Parliamentary Control and Government Flexibility .................... 51 4.4 Transition and Implementation Considerations ................................................ 53 4.5 Committee Observations and Recommendations ............................................. 55 CHAPTER 5: UPDATED REPORTING ............................................................................................ 57 5.1 Departmental Results Framework .......................................................................... 57 5.1.1 Performance Evaluation ....................................................................................... 58 5.1.2 Other Jurisdictions .................................................................................................. 59 5.2 GC InfoBase ....................................................................................................................... 60 5.3 Committee Observations and recommendations .............................................. 61 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................................... 63 APPENDIX A ........................................................................................................................................... 65 APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................................................... 69 APPENDIX C ........................................................................................................................................... 73 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ................................................................................ 75 DISSENTING OPINION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ............................ 77 viii DISSENTING OPINION OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA ..................... 85 ix SUMMARY In 2016, just after the beginning of the 42nd Parliament, the House