Four ideas to improve the estimates process.

AuthorMcCallum, John
PositionReport

This article outlines four steps that could be taken to modernize the supply process. It also looks at the upcoming Strategic and Operating Review and the problems it presents to parliamentarians attempting to understand the government's deficit fighting program.

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The most important function of the House of Commons, and its members, is to review and approve the government's requests for supply and the ways and means by which they will pay for it. That is the very reason the first British Parliaments were assembled hundreds of years ago. Our role as Members of Parliament is simple: before the Crown can tax Canadians and spend their money, they must listen to the concerns of the people and act on them in a satisfactory manner. Until the House is satisfied, we can withhold Supply from the Crown.

However valuable that vision of Parliamentary government, it's obvious that the role of Parliament has expanded from its 17th century role as a petitioning body to the modern, complex legislative body that it is today. That growth reflects the expanding nature of government, a result of the growing complexities of modern life.

No matter what new, larger role MP's play in today's Parliament we cannot afford to lose sight of our original job--to scrutinize and approve the Crown's requests for public money. In my opinion the tools and methods with which the government requests spending, and with which MP's approve and review it are painfully in need of updating.

More emphasis needs to be placed on each Committee's review of its respective department's estimates. The House of Commons is already on the right track in automatically referring each department's estimates to a relevant committee. However, not nearly enough emphasis is placed on the review of these documents. For many committees, it is purely an afterthought--something they must, albeit painfully, spend a meeting considering and approving. Some committees, such as Government Operations and Estimates, receive the spending documents for several large departments and will either not study them all or only spend a cursory amount of time on each department. This does no justice to the concept of Parliamentary oversight.

The government should also consider dropping the Standing Order 81 provision that allows the "deemed reporting" of estimates from committees. Under the current system committees have a limited amount of time to consider the Main Estimates and any Supplementary Estimates the...

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