Annette Ryan, the Carney government's nominee for the Parliamentary Budget Officer, appears before the Finance Committee in March. The House of Commons voted in favour of her nomination on Tuesday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Members of Parliament approved the nomination of Annette Ryan as the next Parliamentary Budget Officer in a 164 to 153 vote, with Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs voting against the nomination.
The two opposition parties had previously said they intended to vote against the nomination because they had urged the government to nominate Jason Jacques, who had served as interim PBO for a six-month period that ended March 2.
Since that time, the independent office has not been able to table any reports in Parliament because the leadership position has been vacant.
Liberal and NDP MPs voted in favour of Ms. Ryan’s appointment, as did Green Party MP Elizabeth May.
The Senate already voted to approve the nomination last month. The next step is for Cabinet to issue an order-in-council confirming the appointment.
The PBO regularly releases reports that provide independent costing of various government programs. They also provide independent projections for federal spending and revenue, including the direction of annual deficits and the federal debt.
Ms. Ryan was most recently a deputy director at the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, or FinTRAC, the federal agency that monitors transactions for signs of suspicious or criminal activity.
Prior to joining FinTRAC in 2019, she was an associate deputy minister at Finance Canada and held finance-related positions in other federal departments.
During an appearance before the finance committee last month, Ms. Ryan pledged to provide MPs with non-partisan analysis and said she would only serve one seven-year term, even though an individual can serve two terms.
During his time as interim PBO, Mr. Jacques used strong language at times to express concern about the direction of federal finances, including “stupefying” and “shocking.” He later toned down his language and released a report after the Nov. 4 budget that said federal finances are sustainable over the long term.
The Conservatives and the Bloc recommended Mr. Jacques be appointed as the permanent PBO and alleged that the government chose someone else because of his criticism of federal spending plans.
Mr. Jacques has resumed his role as director general of economic and fiscal analysis in the PBO, which he held prior to the interim position.