Former budget officer Kevin Page wants to build fiscal studies institute at University of Ottawa

OTTAWA ? A new fiscal studies institute at the University of Ottawa would give governments and politicians ?data points and evidence-based analysis? that could be used in decision-making, says Canada?s former federal budget officer.

Kevin Page, who started working at the university a few weeks ago, wants to build such an office.

?This could be something that parliaments and Canadians could benefit a lot by,? he said Monday.

?There?s lots of work to do, big issues that we haven?t tackled yet. Healthcare issues, climate-change issues, tax-reform issues, inequality issues. We could use some of these resources and perhaps provide more research, more evidence based-type decision-making for parliamentarians ? both the executive, but also the opposition parties as well.?

Page has been named the Jean-Luc Pepin Research Chair on Canadian Government at the university, a three-year post. The chair was established in memory of Pepin, a former politician and political scientist who taught at the university, and is ?dedicated to the study of Canadian political institutions and their transformation in light of the changing conditions and practices of contemporary democratic governance,? according to the school?s website.

Page will also teach courses on public administration and economics in the faculty of social sciences. The university stated Monday that he intends to work toward ?the creation of a new institute dedicated to taxation issues.?

Page was appointed to a five-year term as federal parliamentary budget officer (PBO) in March 2008, after the Conservative government established the office through the Accountability Act in 2006.

During a trip to London, Page was impressed by the work of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which has been around for four decades, he said. That institute?s goal is ?to promote effective economic and social policies by understanding better their impact on individuals, families, businesses and the government?s finances.?

Canada doesn?t have the same number and quality of think-tanks as some other countries, said Page, and the institute he wants to create would also help to better connect universities with parliament.

?To me, it totally makes sense to build it in Ottawa. This is the nation?s capital. We need as many strong data points (as possible),? he said.

Depending on the eventual size of the office, the work it does will sort itself out, he said ? ?how much of it will be looking at the economy, the fiscal situation, how much will be helping different levels of government with costing of new programs and legislation.?

About $2 million a year would be required to run the institute, Page estimated, and a business model and fundraising efforts are needed. (The PBO office had an annual budget of about $2.8 million.)

Contract work can also help with some of the costs, Page said, with projects ranging from municipal to international work. Planners have already talked to provinces about various types of projects such as procurements and ?fiscal framework-related issues,? he said.

Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F239/~3/StzLGgeymxA/story.html

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