Description: Last year, the Liberals under Justin Trudeau latched onto the transparency theme. But last week the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) criticized the Trudeau government for what we might call a lack of transparency. The PBO said the latest federal budget contains some unrealistic forecasts, in particular one which underestimates the level of private sector growth, thereby lowering the tax base.

Date: April 6, 2016

Source: cbc.ca

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pbo-budget-finance-letter-macdonald-1.3523421

Discussion Points:

1) Why do you think the government may have underestimated private sector growth as part of its budget?

2) What do you see as some of the ethical issues in this situation?

3) The article also discusses the issue where the Canada Revenue Agency has refused to provide the PBO with information on tax havens? How do you think this issue could be resolved?