Prime Minister Mark Carney’s nominee for parliamentary budget watchdog has been confirmed by the House of Commons following a narrow vote that exposed sharp divisions over the independence of the role.Blacklock's Reporter says MPs voted 164 to 153 to approve Annette Ryan, a former senior Finance Department official, as Canada’s new budget officer despite opposition from Conservative and Bloc Québécois members.Ryan, 55, acknowledged during committee hearings that she had known Mark Carney since their time studying at Oxford in the 1990s, but insisted the connection would not influence her work.“We knew each other,” Ryan told MPs, adding she would carry out her duties without favour or political interference.Her appointment was backed by Liberal, New Democrat and Green MPs, while opposition members raised concerns about maintaining independence from the government she will be tasked with scrutinizing.Conservative MP Jasraj Hallan pressed Ryan repeatedly on whether she would remain impartial, noting previous budget officers had played a key role in holding governments accountable.“Will you commit to being independent, transparent and impartial?” Hallan asked.“I absolutely commit,” Ryan replied, also pledging she would not censor or alter reports under pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office or federal bureaucracy.Ryan told MPs she intends to provide “high quality, independent and relevant analysis” to help Parliament hold the government to account.She becomes the latest head of the Parliamentary Budget Office, marking the third person to hold the role in just eight months..Her predecessors have publicly acknowledged tensions with government officials. Former budget officer Jason Jacques told a Commons committee earlier this year that the office had faced pushback from the Prime Minister’s Office, describing the environment as increasingly partisan.Another former budget officer, Yves Giroux, has also said criticism from government officials is common when reports challenge official narratives.“I work for parliamentarians,” Giroux told MPs in earlier testimony. “I work for the benefit of taxpayers and Canadians.”
