A House of Commons committee has voted to recommend reinstating the former parliamentary budget watchdog just days after the federal government replaced him, exposing growing tensions in Ottawa over fiscal oversight.Blacklock's Reporter says the House of Commons Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates passed a motion by a 5–4 vote urging the government to appoint Jason Jacques as the permanent Parliamentary Budget Officer for a full seven-year term. Liberal MPs opposed the motion.The proposal was introduced by Kelly Block, Conservative MP for Carlton Trail–Eagle Creek, who asked the committee to formally recommend Jacques’ reinstatement following his recent dismissal.Liberal MP Iqra Khalid questioned whether it was appropriate for a parliamentary committee to recommend specific candidates for federal watchdog roles.“I am trying to understand whether it is convention for a committee to make a recommendation for who should be appointed in any public office whether it be the Parliamentary Budget Officer or the Privacy Commissioner or X, Y, Z,” Khalid said. “For me, I don’t think a motion like this has any impact, or it should or it shouldn’t, on who the government decides to appoint or not.”Committee chair Kelly McCauley, Conservative MP for Edmonton West, sided with the majority supporting the motion, noting the recommendation would not bind the government.“It’s up to the government to decide what they do with a recommendation,” McCauley said. “It is a valid motion just for us to recommend.”.Bloc Québécois MP Marie‑Hélène Gaudreau pointed out the vote came just one day after cabinet named a replacement for Jacques.The federal government has nominated Annette Ryan, a former associate assistant deputy minister at the Department of Finance Canada, to take the role. Her appointment still requires approval from opposition parties and would make her the third budget officer in six months.Jacques’ term officially ended March 2. In one of his final appearances before the committee on Feb. 26, he warned that political tensions surrounding fiscal analysis in Ottawa had intensified.“Things were partisan 20 years ago,” he told MPs. “They are certainly more partisan now and more heated.”During his tenure, Jacques frequently criticized federal deficit spending. In testimony last September he warned that rising deficits should alarm Canadians.“It should be very alarming,” he said. “Like, stupefying, shocking.”He compared Ottawa’s finances to a household budget that repeatedly fails to cover its monthly bills..“I think as anyone who has managed a household budget knows, if you sit down at the end of the month and you don’t have enough money to pay your bills and it happens month after month after month, you know something is going to break,” he said.The federal government initially projected a $39.8-billion deficit for 2024, but the final figure reached $51.7 billion, about 30% higher than expected. Ottawa had also targeted a $26.8-billion deficit for 2025, though current estimates place it closer to $78.3 billion.Looking ahead, the government forecast a $30.8-billion deficit for 2026, while the latest projections from the Department of Finance Canada estimate the shortfall could reach $65.4 billion.“This is not sustainable in the long term,” Jacques told MPs. “That’s what is shocking.”
