OTTAWA — Ottawa’s fiscal watchdog called out the Carney government Friday for using an “overly expansive” definition of investments that shifts about $94-billion in spending over the next five years to the more palatable capital side of the ledger.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), an independent offer who scrutinizes government raising and spending of tax dollars, said in a new report on this year’s budget that the government’s inclusion of such items as corporate income tax expenditures, investment tax credits and operating subsidies should not be considered capital spending.

The PBO report, which also shed new light on Ottawa’s dire fiscal situation, said the government’s “new framework adopts a definition of capital investment that expands beyond the current treatment” used int

See Full Page