Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux said Canada ranks among the worst in the world for concealing federal books from taxpayer scrutiny, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. .“In comparison to other G7 countries, Canada was among the last to publish their financial accounts,” said Giroux in a report to the House of Commons Government Operations Committee. .“Countries that published in advance of six months after the end of the fiscal year include France, Germany, Italy, and the United States.” .Giroux said almost half of Canadian provinces and territories published their public accounts within six months, with Alberta doing it within three. .He faulted the Canadian government for delaying publication of the public accounts. .“We some times struggle to track the money ourselves,” he said. .He said public accounts should be published by September 30 each year. Cabinet delayed publishing them for months in the past. .Giroux’s report follows a hearing on December 1 where he said delaying accounts left little time to examine past spending “meaningfully, within a period of time where if there’s a need to correct course if it is still possible.”.NDP MP Gord Johns asked if the parliamentary budget officer knows why the Canadian government continues to have issues with timely reporting..He said “they can, just because.” .Parliament mandated annual disclosure of public accounts under the 1878 Public Accounts Audit Act. .“The fundamental purpose of the Public Accounts Of Canada is to provide information to Parliament, and thus to the public, which will enable them to understand and evaluate the financial position and transactions of the government,” said the Public Accounts Audit Act. .This revelation comes after the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) Debt Clock broke in January because of how much debt the federal government incurred. .READ MORE: Out of time — Trudeau breaks CTF’s debt clock.“The Trudeau government broke our national debt clock by running the debt beyond $1 trillion,” said CTF Federal Director Franco Terrazzano. .“We made the mistake of underestimating politicians’ ability to spend other people’s money.”
