Federal Departments: Parliamentary Budget Officer PBO

Expenditure Reductions Dept: In a report Tuesday, Parliamentary Budget Officer PBO Kevin Page said information provided by federal departments indicates internal government savings account for only about 15 per cent of the overall spending reductions planned by the Conservatives over five years, according to The Star. Our calculation is 70 per cent of expenditure reductions are in the back office, certainly, and we took special care to make sure that core services delivered to Canadians were not affected by any of our budget decisions, Clement told the media and oTTAWA The federal spending watchdog says the bulk of budget cuts will be felt in the form of program and service cuts not through back-office efficiencies as the Harper government claimed. In its March 29 budget Ottawa said nearly 70 per cent of the expenditure cuts would be accomplished as a result of operating efficiencies and Treasury Board Minister Tony Clement is sticking with that estimate. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.