Scott Brison sets out to stop the budget's March madness

This week, Treasury Board President Scott Brisonwill table the new Liberal government's firstmainspending estimates, laying out the broad strokes of where taxpayers' money goes across all federaldepartments and agencies.

If you're busy washing your hair that day, don'tworry: the numbers arealready out of date.

That's just one of the reasonsBrison's department is on a briefing blitz, kicking off efforts tomake this2016 federal budget cycle the last timeparliamentarians voteto approve spending that isn't clearly explained.

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"Estimates aren't considered to the be the sexiest thing around, but they're incredibly important," Brison saidin an interview with CBC News.

The process has been given "short shrift,"but it's"absolutely key to strengthening Parliament" and the roleof MPs.

Even some who'vebeen around for a long time don't understand it, hesaid.

Case in point: the spending estimates MPs receive this week, based on status quo calculationsthat wrapped in January.

Meanwhile, new Liberal ministers are busily implementingtheir mandate letters. In a few weeks, Finance Minister Bill Morneau's first budget will lay out what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's governmentintends to do.

Treasury Board officials may bristle at someone suggestingthis week's document is kind of, well,useless.

But Senator Elizabeth Marshall, a former auditor general from Newfoundland and Labrador, summedit up at a Senate committee briefing earlier this month:

"You started to prepare the estimates way back before you really had a good handle on the direction the new government was going in, so I would think that this year there will be an extra disconnect. Is that right?" she askedofficials.

Votes without scrutiny

Once the budget's out, thefiscal facepalmskeep coming.

The budget implementation billsMPs vote on don't authorize the government to spend: they changetax laws and regulations. (The previous Conservative government found them handy kitchen sink-type bills for all kinds of moves.)

Appropriation acts (or"supply bills")greenlightspending. Afraction of a department'soperating budgetis approved for the start ofthe new fiscal year (April 1). The restof the main estimates areapprovedbysummer.

In between, parliamentary committees are supposed to call witnesses, including ministers and officials, and give it all a good once-over, reducing or disapproving spending they don't like.

But remember: thoseestimates pre-date thebudget.

Without solid, timely figures, committees sometimes just skip it. (Afailure to object is deemedasapproval.)

As MPs stand up to vote, sometimes preciouslittle scrutiny has occurred.

Stuff happens

Government decisions don'talways fall neatly into the fiscal year.

Take themove to bring 25,000Syrian refugees to Canada: an urgent, multi-departmental effort.

The immigration department's spending was approvedin December. It'sreflected in this week's estimates.

But spending in other departmentswasnot finalized in time. The main estimates for the defence department and the border services agency, asexamples, won't reflectrefugee costs.

Meanwhile, supplementary estimates tabled Friday for the fiscal year endingMarch 31do reflect the late spending in the other departments. (MPs vote separately to approve that.)

Confused yet?

Time lags and lapsed funds

Treasury Board's briefing explains how a delayed funding decisionforMarine Atlantic, the Crown corporation based in St. John's, NL, gave thefalseimpression of a significant cutin the 2014-15main estimates. Supplementary estimates in 2015-16 showedthe organization's resources more than doubled.

On average, spending approvals take about 13 months, officials say. Programs announced in the 2013 and 2014 budgets have taken as long as 19and 15months, respectively, to get funding passed.

In the meantime, costs change.

"It's like a dog always chasing its tail," the Senate committee was told. "The budget creates expectations. It's aspirational... but then we lose some of that urgency and momentum because it takes time to develop the proposals."

Delays also contribute to budgets lapsingat the end of a fiscal year.

Lapsed funds can help balance thebooks, but alsobreed skepticism of the process.

A government looks good announcingmillions. But whenthings aren't spentin time,thosefunds just padthe bottom line.

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On top of all this, budgetprojections from the finance department don't use the same accounting methods as the spending estimates from Treasury Board, so the figures don't line up.

To easeconfusion this year,officials are working on areconciliation table.

Reforms'transformational'

In 2012, MPs from all parties on the Commons government operations committee made it clear that MPs hadbecome ineffective at scrutinizing government spending and holding the government to account.

But little changed.

For Brison, fixing the "complex and irrational" system is aboutrespectingParliament.

Releasing a budget alongside correspondingspendingestimatescould be "transformational."

He met with Australia's finance minister in Januaryat the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland to discuss moving Canada closer to Australia'ssystem, where funds can beapproved within one to three months of a budget's release.

Officials note that provinces like Ontario and Quebec also work more efficiently.

Brisonsays he's "serving notice" of a better-aligned system to come. But hisgood intentions cometoo late for this year.

Sowelcome to one more"complexand irrational"budget cycle.And good luck.