Marginal note:Duties of Librarians and staff

78. The Parliamentary Librarian, the Associate Parliamentary Librarian, the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the other officers, clerks and servants of the Library are responsible for the faithful discharge of their official duties, as defined, subject to this Act, by regulations agreed on by the Speakers of the two Houses of Parliament and concurred in by the joint committee referred to in section 74.

Marginal note:Parliamentary Budget Officer

• 79.1 (1) There is hereby established the position of Parliamentary Budget Officer, the holder of which is an officer of the Library of Parliament.

• Marginal note:Appointment and term of office

  (2) The Governor in Council shall, by commission under the Great Seal, appoint the Parliamentary Budget Officer to hold office during pleasure for a renewable term of not more than five years.

• Marginal note:Selection

  (3) The Governor in Council may select the Parliamentary Budget Officer from a list of three names submitted in confidence, through the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, by a committee formed and chaired by the Parliamentary Librarian.

• Marginal note:Remuneration and expenses

  (4) The Parliamentary Budget Officer shall be paid the remuneration and expenses set by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Mandate

79.2 The mandate of the Parliamentary Budget Officer is to

• (a) provide independent analysis to the Senate and to the House of Commons about the state of the nation’s finances, the estimates of the government and trends in the national economy;

• (b) when requested to do so by any of the following committees, undertake research for that committee into the nation's finances and economy:

  • (i) the Standing Committee on National Finance of the Senate or, in the event that there is not a Standing Committee on National Finance, the appropriate committee of the Senate,

  • (ii) the Standing Committee on Finance of the House of Commons or, in the event that there is not a Standing Committee on Finance, the appropriate committee of the House of Commons, or

  • (iii) the Standing Committee on Public Accounts of the House of Commons or, in the event that there is not a Standing Committee on Public Accounts, the appropriate committee of the House of Commons;

• (c) when requested to do so by a committee of the Senate or of the House of Commons, or a committee of both Houses, that is mandated to consider the estimates of the government, undertake research for that committee into those estimates; and

• (d) when requested to do so by a member of either House or by a committee of the Senate or of the House of Commons, or a committee of both Houses, estimate the financial cost of any proposal that relates to a matter over which Parliament has jurisdiction.

Marginal note:Access to financial and economic data

• 79.3 (1) Except as provided by any other Act of Parliament that expressly refers to this subsection, the Parliamentary Budget Officer is entitled, by request made to the deputy head of a department within the meaning of any of paragraphs (a), (a.1) and (d) of the definition “department” in section 2 of the Financial Administration Act, or to any other person designated by that deputy head for the purpose of this section, to free and timely access to any financial or economic data in the possession of the department that are required for the performance of his or her mandate.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of any financial or economic data

  • (a) that are information the disclosure of which is restricted under section 19 of the Access to Information Act or any provision set out in Schedule II to that Act; or

  • (b) that are contained in a confidence of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada described in subsection 69(1) of that Act, unless the data are also contained in any other record, within the meaning of section 3 of that Act, and are not information referred to in paragraph (a).

Marginal note:Confidentiality

79.4 The Parliamentary Budget Officer, and every person acting on behalf or under the direction of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, shall not disclose any financial or economic data that come to their knowledge under section 79.3, unless the disclosure is essential for the performance of his or her mandate and the financial or economic data to which the disclosure relates are not information described in subsection 13(1), section 14 or any of paragraphs 18(a) to (d) or 20(1)(b) to (d) of the Access to Information Act.

Marginal note:Powers to contract

• 79.5 (1) The Parliamentary Budget Officer may, in the performance of his or her mandate, enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding or other arrangements in the name of his or her position.

• Marginal note:Technical assistance

  (2) The Parliamentary Budget Officer may engage on a temporary basis the services of persons having technical or specialized knowledge necessary for the performance of his or her mandate.

• Marginal note:Authorization to assist

  (3) The Parliamentary Budget Officer may authorize a person employed in the Library of Parliament to assist him or her to exercise any of the powers under subsection (1) or (2), subject to the conditions that the Parliamentary Budget Officer sets.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (4) For greater certainty, section 74 and subsection 75(2) apply in respect of the exercise of the powers described in subsections (1) to (3).