Budget office says Liberal spending estimates short $2.5B on infrastructure
OTTAWA — The parliamentary budget office and the Liberals clashed again Thursday over the government’s infrastructure spending program, with the watchdog saying billions were missing from planned spending and the government arguing the watchdog didn’t read the numbers correctly.
Underlying the dispute was a point both sides wanted to make: the way the federal government reports on its spending plans for the year is so opaque that it is difficult to know where the money is going.
The spending figures in the estimates don’t line up nicely with the budget, which will be released on March 22, meaning that parliamentarians don’t get the full picture on government spending.
As one example, Jean-Denis Frechette’s report cites the end of the universal child care benefit, which was replaced in last year’s budget by the new Canada child benefit. The new benefit is more expensive than the one it replaced, but the department overseeing the program is nonetheless seeing its spending drop by $4.2 billion from the last year.