Within the massive federal government bureaucracy, there are only two independent offices that can be relied upon to give Canadian parliamentarians and taxpayers objective, independent, non-partisan evaluations of government spending.  

One of them is the auditor general.  

GOLDSTEIN: Wanted: A watchdog, not a lapdog, of Liberal spending Back to video

The other is the parliamentary budget officer (PBO) and, according to former PBO Yves Giroux, Prime Minister Mark Carney is deliberately “silencing” the PBO by refusing to name his permanent replacement.  

In an extraordinarily blunt interview with The Hill Times, in language seldom used by a public servant, Giroux said the Liberal government’s refusal to name a new PBO is “in effect silencing an agent of Parliament and preventing the office from fulfilling its mandate,” adding, “It’s clear to me that it is a conscious decision to have the PBO quiet, or to ensure the institution is quiet for some........

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