OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is advocating for the immediate appointment of Jason Jacques as the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) for a full seven-year term. He argues that Jacques' current interim status undermines his ability to effectively hold the Liberal government accountable for its spending practices.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Poilievre expressed concerns that Jacques' lack of job security is intentional. He wrote, "To silence the watchdog, you’ve kept him on a short leash with a term that expires in 166 days, after which you could either renew or fire him, meaning you could fire him for telling the truth."

Jacques was appointed as interim PBO on September 2, following the end of Yves Giroux’s seven-year term. At that time, officials indicated that Jacques would serve temporarily while the government sought a permanent replacement. However, with the Carney government’s first federal budget set to be introduced in six weeks, Poilievre emphasized the urgency of the situation.

"We need a PBO now, more than ever, to tell Canadians how big a financial mess you’ve made and scrutinize the crooked accounting you have promised to use in the forthcoming budget," Poilievre stated in his letter.

The call for Jacques' full appointment comes after he raised concerns about the process surrounding his interim hiring. During a recent parliamentary committee meeting, Jacques noted that under current rules, the Prime Minister could appoint "anybody in the world with a pulse" as the temporary budget watchdog. He criticized the lack of accountability in the selection process, saying, "It is ludicrous that this is hoisted on you who is selected by the head of the executive branch, and it could have been anybody."

Jacques also expressed significant worries about the government's absence of fiscal anchors to control excessive spending. Unlike a permanent PBO, an interim appointee does not require parliamentary approval, and it remains unclear whether the Prime Minister can extend an interim PBO's term consecutively.

Jacques is the second interim PBO in the office's two-decade history. The first, Sonia L’Heureux, served for just over five months in 2013 before a permanent replacement was appointed. The Liberal government is scheduled to present the federal budget on November 4, with Carney indicating that Canadians should expect a "substantial" deficit.