Mulcair bill to strengthen budget watchdog

As members of parliament return to Ottawa after a week of working in their ridings, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair will introduce aprivate member's billdesigned to strengthenthe mandate of the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, CBC News has learned.

The Opposition leader will squeak in the bill in the hours ahead ofaMonday evening deadline to get his PMBto the Order Paper.

As CBC reported Friday, thiswill almost certainly be Mulcair's only opportunity to present a bill to the House before the next federal election.

Kevin Page, the current parliamentary budget officer, was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper for a five-year term that endsMarch 25.

Under the current legislation, the PBO is an officer of the Library of Parliament and as such has less teeth than Officers of Parliament who are independent from the government of the day.

Page has saidthe next spending watchdog should be accountable to Parliament in the same way that the auditor general or the chief electoral officer are.

NDP finance critic Peggy Nash has aprivate member's billbefore Parliament Bill C-381 titled the strengthening fiscal transparency act that wouldallow for the spending watchdog to be independent.

Mulcair's bill is said to different enough that Nash will not have to withdraw hers, NDP officials say.

Appointing a successor

In January, Mulcair wrote to the prime minister asking him to extend Page's appointment until a replacementwas found.

The Opposition leaderpointed to the upcoming federal budget and the role of the PBO in providinginformation to parliamentarians and Canadians.

In February, Page told CBC Radio's The House he would agree to stay on if asked.

"I would stay on for a transition if the prime minister asked me to stay on for a few months," Page said.

Page has been criticized by thefederal governmentfor the estimated costs he gave for the proposed purchase of the F-35 fighter jet, an estimate that was later confirmed by a report from Auditor General Michael Ferguson.

He was alsocriticized for sayingthat Old Age Security was sustainable, effectively contradicting the federal government's assessment of that program.

Seen as a thorn in the federal government's side, various cabinet ministers havetried to undermine his credibility by saying the watchdog was"operating outside his mandate."

Harper has said on numerous occasions that the office of the parliamentarybudget officer was created so the watchdog could do his "non-partisan work."

All eyes will be onPage's next reportthat will look atthe jointsupport ship program.

The Library of Parliament is currently leading the search for a new PBO.