Article content

OTTAWA — Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page hasn’t exactly endorsed the New Democrat’s fiscal policy framework.

In fact, shortly after the NDP unveiled the document last week, Page was quoted referring to it as a “Swiss-cheese fiscal costing platform.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Ex-parliamentary budget watchdog reveals Tom Mulcair had his back when his office's funding was slashed Back to video

But Page revealed Tuesday that he is indebted to party Leader Tom Mulcair for having his back when his office’s budget was slashed.

“My connection to Thomas Mulcair is a personal one,” Page said as he introduced Mulcair for a speech on the state of Canada’s economy at the University of Ottawa.

My connection to Thomas Mulcair is a personal one

Page, who is now the Jean Luc Pepin Research Chair at the university’s faculty of social sciences, recalled to the student-dominated audience how the parliamentary budget office came under attack from a Conservative-dominated Commons committee.

The PBO, created in 2006 under the Federal Accountability Act, had become a thorn in the government’s side after it released several reports that contradicted what the Conservatives were telling Canadians about some big-ticket issues, such as the true cost of the war in Afghanistan, budget deficit projections and the seriousness of the 2008 recession.