Liberals promising more open pre-budget consultations

Finance Minister Bill Morneau is heading off on asix-day cross-countryconsultation tripto ask Canadians what they want to see in the upcoming federal budget.

The meetings willbe a mix of traditional closed-door sessions with stakeholdergroups, ranging from manufacturing to cultural organizations,plus a couple of public events in each locationwhere people will get a chance to offer their opinions directly to the federal minister.

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Theconsultations will include, for the first time, a panel discussion in Toronto on key themes that will be in the budget.

"It's important to listen, people need to be partof the process," Dan Lauzon, director of communications for the finance minister, said in an interview with CBC News. "We're not going into any of these cities and hiding."

Lauzon saidthe Liberals got the clear message during the election campaign that people want a more inclusive government and the pre-budget conversations aregoing to be part of that.

"The prime minister says the government must be open and engaged. That is the tone he has set," Lauzon said.

Morneau'scross-country trek is called "Growing Our Economy Together." It starts Jan. 11 in Halifax and movesto Montreal, Toronto,Winnipeg andCalgary, ending in Surrey, B.C., on Jan. 16.

Morneau will be holding the regular private sessions with interest groups where both sides can speak frankly, according toLauzon. But he's also making publicspeeches to local business groups andholding townhalls with university students in Halifax and Calgary. The government is also trying to use moresocial media by taking writtenquestions and advice from Canadians on Facebook.

Morneau will also be part of a four-hourpanel discussion on "Innovation, Climate Change and Infrastructure" at theMunk School of Global Affairs in Toronto, which will be open to the media and about 100 members of the public.

"That's new, for sure," said Theresa McClenaghan,one of the experts who hasbeen invited to be part of the panel.

McClenaghan's co-chair of the Green Budget Coalition, representing 16 environmental groups that provide annual budget advice to the minister.

Time is short

The Liberals say their more open approach isdifferent from the previous Conservative government, but McClenaghan says it's probably too early to tell if that's really the case. She thinks the real proof is what the government actually does with the advice.

The Liberals may also be takingthis approach because they have to.Parliamentary committees that normally hear from interest groupsaren'tset up yet, and with a budget expected by early spring, time is short.

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The Conservative government held most of its pre-budget consultations behind closed doors. But former finance ministerJim Flaherty would also typically hold at least one public town hall meeting in his own riding as he prepared the budget.

Despite the Conservative government's record on the environment,McClenaghan says her group always had"very good access" to finance departmentofficials and government ministersevery year.

She says theirsuggestions would oftenshow up in the budget, like the Conservative budgetmeasures to rollback fossil fuel subsides or spendmore money onnational parks. But she adds the former government rarely took their advice on theclimate change file.

Despite thataccess, thoseprivate budget talkshad their limitations.

"Closed-door meetings are not accountable,"said McClenaghan, adding that gettingadvice in public creates a differentdynamic for a government that can be more easily called to account if it doesn't listen.

"I think every time there is additional transparency it increases accountability."