Opinion: For Mark Carney, a quiet budget officer is a good one

It’s safe to say at this point that the Liberal is not winning any awards on transparency or fiscal responsibility.

Since their re-election in 2025, they have falsely tried to defend themselves against their $78 billion deficit, swept the trade deal they claimed they were going to get with the United States under the rug, and are sticking to their guns on the Trudeau-era environmental policies that have jeopardized Canada’s economic sovereignty and let business and investment flock to the United States.

This time, they put Jason Jacques, now-former Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), on the chopping block.

While the reason for not appointing Mr. Jacques to a seven-year term has not been explicitly stated by the former governor of the Bank of Canada turned prime minister, Mark Carney, I am alarmed by the preceding events leading to the second PBO change in less than a year.

In his Sept. 25 appearance before the government operations committee, Mr. Jacques drew the ire of the Liberal government when he described the federal government’s finances as “stupefying,” “shocking” and “unsustainable.”

Subsequently, Carney tried to silence the watchdog, by keeping him on a short leash with a temporary position that would expire in a

matter of months after his committee appearance.

It was the PBO who exposed the Liberals for quadrupling the cost of premium healthcare to refugee claimants, with some of the beneficiaries continuing to receive free health care despite their claims having already been rejected.

The Liberals have made it clear that they aren’t fans of the PBO. However, they recently made it even clearer by hurling allegations of racism and xenophobia towards MPs who were citing the PBO’s work and the unacceptable practice of rejected asylum claimants getting better taxpayer funded health care than Canadian citizens.

Former budget watchdog, Yves Giroux, cut straight to the point about the delays in appointing a new PBO: “It’s in effect silencing an agent of Parliament and preventing the office from fulfilling its mandate. It’s clear to me that it is a conscious decision to have the PBO quiet, or to ensure that the institution is quiet for some time.”

During the 2025 election, the prime minister flaunted his resumé of so-called “fiscal prudency” which is why it’s all the more perplexing as to why Mark Carney has not appointed a full-time fiscal watchdog since the departure of Yves Giroux on Sept. 2. Then again, it’s also perplexing as to how the former banker managed to outspend Justin Trudeau of all people.

For Mark Carney, a quiet PBO is a good PBO. After all, it’s been the parliamentary budget officer who has been a thorn in the side of the Liberals for the past decade. As Canada’s economy deteriorated because of Liberal policies, Carney has done everything in his power to ensure he can spend like a spoiled teenager with his rich dad’s credit card with as little oversight as possible.

Conservatives called on the prime minister to keep Mr. Jacques for a full term, but it is clear the Liberals have other plans for a new appointment.

After a decade of crushing Liberal policies and a total ambivalence toward the abuse of tax dollars, the prime minister gave us the highest non-pandemic deficit in our history and presciently promised Canadians they will have to sacrifice even more.

We need transparency and accountability from our watchdogs now more than ever.

But with Mark Carney, only one thing is for certain: He will happily carry on the Liberal legacy of uncontrolled spending to make himself look good and he’ll make you pay for it in the end.

Warren Steinley is the member of Parliament for Regina-Lewvan

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