QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Fiscal Update
October 29, 2020
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Senator Gold, prior to the proroguing of Parliament in August, the government was providing a biweekly financial report on its COVID-19 spending. The House of Commons Finance Committee posted each report on its website so we could access it. The last report was posted on August 6, almost three months ago.
It was the one piece of current financial information that was available to members of the Finance Committee, parliamentarians and Canadians.
Can you tell us when we can expect the government to start providing this biweekly report again?
Thank for your question, senator. I do not have a precise date, but I will make inquiries and am happy to report back.
The government is providing very little financial information, and I’ve spoken about it in this chamber many times. Both parliamentarians and Canadians in general are looking for this financial information. I usually go to the Department of Finance website to see what’s there. If you look at it now, the most recent fiscal monitor shows financial results for July 2020, three months ago. The most recent budget, Budget 2019, was released on March 19, 2019, 19 months ago. We have not seen a budget or fiscal plan since.
Under the heading of “Latest” on the Department of Finance website, it displays the most recent Public Accounts for the year ending March 31, 2019. This would be for the 2018-19 financial year, also 19 months ago. Senator Gold, yesterday you said this government is being transparent, but it’s not being transparent. We cannot get current, up-to-date financial information. Why is the government refusing to provide current financial information to parliamentarians and Canadians in general?
Thank you for the question. I don’t, respectfully, accept the premise that the government is refusing to provide information. These are extraordinarily challenging times and the government remains committed to not only providing information in an appropriate and timely fashion, but also continuing to work as it is doing to provide support to Canadians during these very challenging times.
