On Thursday September 26th, the Saskatchewan Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives presented a night with former Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Kevin Page at the University of Regina. Mr. Page reflects on his tenure as the first PBO in Canada and the identifies the obstacles and challenges that his office faced daily in its attempt to offer Canadians a level of fiscal transparency from its government that has yet to be matched. Called an "unlikely enforcer" and a "latter-day folk hero to the average taxpayer," Kevin Page's term in office allowed Canadians to scrutinize the fiscal decisions of our government like never before. Reflecting on his tenure, Page laments, "Canada's Parliament is losing its capacity to hold the government to account. There are negative implications for prosperity and democracy. I am sorry if I sound brash, but we need to wake up. There is a lot at stake."
Recorded live from the Education Auditorium at the University of Regina. Introductory remarks courtesy of Dr. Tom McIntosh, Head of the University of Regina Political Science Department and member of the Research Faculty at the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU) at the University of Regina.