Budget Watchdog Releases Government Letter on Non-Disclosure of Carbon Pricing Data

The federal budget watchdog has publicly shared a letter it received from Environment Canada requesting government data provided on the economic impacts of carbon pricing not be made public. “The data the Department is providing contains unpublished information,” says the May 14 letter. “As such, I request you to ensure that this information is used for your office’s internal purposes only and is not published or further distributed.” Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) Yves Giroux this week told a House of Commons committee about the letter while being questioned by Liberal MP Ryan Turnbull. Mr. Turnbull has criticized the PBO for an error made in its analysis of the fuel charge, which overestimated the economic impacts of the carbon tax....