The federal government's pre-budget consultations allow Stephen Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to get meaningful input from the public on the country's most pressing economic and fiscal challenges. It is a critical budget for Canada, so the government is right to reach out, and ought to take the advice it receives seriously.
Consultations are a regular feature of the budgetary calendar, but too frequently conducted by rote, for the sake of appearance only, while the government, already decided in its policy direction, drafts its plans independently and in secret. So the government's level of engagement, including that of Mr. Harper, who usually shuns such events but will be holding them across the country, is to be commended. Also included are an online consultation and events hosted by Mr. Flaherty and other ministers with economic portfolios.
It would be better to have the included the scrutiny of Parliament in the pre-budget process. But the government still has opportunities to listen to the opposition parties whose support it will ultimately need to pass the budget. The Liberals will be holding their own pre-budget consultations; the House's Standing Committee on Finance has already issued a 174-page report, from which only the Bloc dissented. And Mr. Flaherty needs to meet opposition party finance critics in advance, as he has done in the past.
The budget should do three things: deliver a final dose of stimulus to an economy that has been slow to recover; commit to meaningful deficit reduction; and help the country tackle long-term economic challenges. On these issues, the Liberals and Conservatives are in surprisingly close agreement. If they are serious about preventing an election, then the budget will be free of poison pills, and full of the best ideas to kick-start growth. Unlike some previous hasty economic statements, a longer lead time is an opportunity to put together a better budget.
The government has the right to shape its own budget. But in a minority government, when the public feels democracy is being short-circuited because of the prorogation, a little consultation will help.