Budget 2009 - Performance Assessment
From Stimulus Watch
The Parliamentary Budget Office "support[s] Parliament and parliamentarians in holding the government to account for the good stewardship of public resources."(1) They are mandated "to provide independent analysis to the Senate and to the House of Commons regarding the state of the nation’s finances, the government estimates and trends in the national economy."(1) In February 2009, the PBO published custom term papers on the challenges and goals of monitoring Budget 2009, inviting Canadians to contribute to this discussion.
There are a lot of levels between the macro view presented in Table B3 - Performance Assessment (page 12) and the impact of government spending felt by Canadians. How can we know for sure that the so called "stimulus budget" is in fact achieving the objectives laid out in the Economic Action Plan?
One way to identify what needs to be tracked to report on the impact of Budget 2009 is to map how spending activities are intended to meet long term objectives. The table below maps the logic chain between spending categories, intended outcomes and measurement indicators. Feel free to discuss, add rows or columns here on the wiki or write about it on your blog and link to this wiki page. The goal is to help the government improve the monitoring and evaluation of Budget 2009 so please wiki responsibly.
| Key Objective (Source: Economic Action Plan Jan 2009) | Budget 2009 Description | Expected Results (Source: Budget 2009) | Measurement Indicators |
| Improving Access to Financing and Strengthening Canada’s Financial System | Extension of the Insured Mortgage Purchase Program | Improve access to financing for Canadian households and businesses.
Providing lenders with stable long-term financing allowing them to continue lending to Canadian consumers. To safeguard of financial stability in Canada. | Indicators of price and volume stability in financial markets including interest rate spreads. Direct and indirect employment and income effects associated with business (Crown corp.) loan activities. |
| Improving Access to Financing and Strengthening Canada’s Financial System | New flexibilities and Resources for Financial Crown Corporations | Improve access to financing for Canadian households and businesses.
Providing lenders with stable long-term financing allowing them to continue lending to Canadian consumers. To safeguard of financial stability in Canada. | Indicators of price and volume stability in financial markets including interest rate spreads. Direct and indirect employment and income effects associated with business (Crown corp.) loan activities. |
| Improving Access to Financing and Strengthening Canada’s Financial System | A New Canadian Securities Regulator | Improve access to financing for Canadian households and businesses.
Providing lenders with stable long-term financing allowing them to continue lending to Canadian consumers. To safeguard of financial stability in Canada. | Indicators of price and volume stability in financial markets including interest rate spreads. Direct and indirect employment and income effects associated with business (Crown corp.) loan activities. |
| Action to Help Canadians and Stimulate Spending | The Canadian Skills and Transition Strategy - An extra 5 weeks of EI benefits | Provide reassurance that (EI clients) will have financial support for a longer period while they find new employment...provide additional income support to unemployed Canadians who would otherwise have exhausted their benefits. | In addition to providing information on the tenure of EI recipients, provide details on the current effectiveness of support provided by the EI programs, such as beneficiaries-to-unemployed ratios. |
| Action to Help Canadians Stimulate Spending | Enhancing the Availability of Training - Employment Insurance Training Programs | To expand the availability of training delivered through the EI program by provinces and territories...especially those in industries hardest hit by the global economic turmoil. | Increase the number of participants in training programs by province/territory and subject of study. |
| Action to Stimulate Housing Construction | Investments in Housing for Canadians - Renovation and Retrofit of Social Housing | Providing a one-time federal investment...for renovations and energy retrofits for up to 200,000 social housing units on a 50-50 cost-shared basis with provinces. | Number of (social housing related) projects completed and direct/indirect employment and income effects in the housing sector. |
| Action to Stimulate Housing Construction | First Nations Housing | This will assist the transition to market-based housing on reserve and address immediate housing needs while serving as an economic stimulus for many First Nations and rural areas. | Number of (social housing related) projects completed and direct/indirect employment and income effects in first national/rural areas. |
| Immediate Action to Build Infrastructure | Investments in Provincial, Territorial and Municipal Infrastructure
Infrastructure Stimulus Fund | Provide funding for infrastructure rehabilitation projects. | Number and total value (including provincial and municipal contributions) of work underway and completed including direct and indirect effects on employment and income. |
| Immediate Action to Build Infrastructure | Canada Health Infoway | To support the goal of having 50% of Canadians with an electronic health record by 2010. | Details on the acceleration of electronic health records project with emphasis on the use of Budget 2009 funding; Percentage of Canadians with electronic health records. |
| Action to Support Businesses in Communities | Helping All Regions Prosper
Southern Ontario Development Agency | To help workers, communities and businesses in Southern Ontario position themselves to take advantage of opportunities, as economic growth recovers. | Detailed description of direct/indirect effects on employment and income in region. |
| Action to Support Businesses in Communities | Community Adjustment Fund | Help mitigate the short-term impacts of restructuring in communities...provided through regional development agencies. | Detailed description of direct/indirect effects on employment and income in region. |
