QUESTION PERIOD — Treasury Board
Ministerial Expenditure Review
June 4, 2019
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government. In 2015 the Trudeau government announced it would conduct spending reviews in order to find savings in the operation of the government. According to the numbers in its 2019 Budget, in over three years the government has reviewed the operations of only five departments or agencies — Transport Canada, Fisheries and Oceans, including the Coast Guard, Health Canada, CBSA and the RCMP. After such review it has found savings of $10 million at Transport Canada. That is, 0.0003 per cent of the government’s expenses.
Senator Harder, why is your government not more serious about reviewing the operations of the government or protecting the interests of taxpayers?
Again, I thank the honourable senator for her question. It is the prudent role of all governments, at all times, to review the spending of various departments and to ensure it is spending devoted to the highest areas of priority. This government has not been as devoted to cutting programs or expenditures as the honourable senator’s previous government. This government is of the view that funding should go to higher priorities and that is what it is undertaking.
