FINA meeting 30 · 2026-03-23 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The committee was studying the candidacy of Annette Ryan for the position of Parliamentary Budget Officer of Canada. Ryan appeared as a witness, introduced by the committee chair.

Annette Ryan, a career public servant with over 30 years of experience at both the federal and provincial levels, stated her commitment to independence, transparency and impartiality if confirmed as PBO. She outlined two main priorities: deepening analysis of the government's fiscal sustainability and tracking how budget proposals are executed through estimates and public accounts. Ryan committed to serving only one term, saying she would refuse reappointment to protect the office's independence, and she pledged not to censor or water down reports at the government's request. She acknowledged a past acquaintanceship with Prime Minister Mark Carney from their time at Oxford University but said they had different social circles and that their professional paths crossed only briefly when she was at Industry Canada and he was Governor of the Bank of Canada, with no contact after he left for the Bank of England. Ryan disagreed with the characterization that the current fiscal track is unsustainable, stating that Canada's AAA bond rating, a debt-to-GDP ratio projected to decline to 39% in the medium term, and the IMF's view that there remains fiscal room all indicate sustainability, though she agreed that rising debt-to-GDP ratios are of concern and that it is important to maintain fiscal buffers for economic shocks. She said she would use scenario analysis and transparency to support parliamentary debate, and she described the government's "spend less to invest more" framing as a political statement that does not change generally accepted accounting principles. Ryan noted that the PBO's role is to support, not lead, parliamentary debate and that she would let the work speak for itself while being willing to explain analysis to the public. She declined to commit to not working for the federal government after her term, saying she had not considered it but would reflect on the question. On the question of federal spending power in provincial jurisdictions, Ryan said she would work with parliamentarians to clarify what analyses they want. She also stated that she has known interim PBO Jason Jacques for over 20 years and intends to maintain professional collegiality with him and other senior officials in the office.

No procedural debate, motions or votes occurred during this meeting.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.

Witnesses · 1

Annette Ryan

Deputy Director, Partnership, Policy and Analysis, FINTRAC, As an Individual

Opening remarks

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Dear vice-chairs and honourable members of the committee, thank you as well for inviting me today to talk about my candidacy for the position of Parliamentary Budget Officer of Canada. I will open by honouring the past leaders—in particular Senator Hugh Segal and the Honourable Paul Dewar—who advocated diligently for many years to create the independent parliamentary budget office. Their goal was to deepen the transparency and accountability of Canadian governments to Parliament and Canadians. Informed parliamentary scrutiny is foundational to delivering real results for Canadians and core to the health of our democracy. I also want to begin by saying that I have the deepest respect for all my predecessors who built the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, or PBO. As widely reported, the office was recently recognized by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD, as the best in the world and a highly effective source of independent and credible advice. The same OECD report provided balanced recommendations to inform its next steps. I agree with the OECD recommendations and commit to deepening and…

Full testimony ↗

Finance

Summary

Witnesses · 1

Bills mentioned