Budget 2016 offers opportunity to the FI Community: ACFO
The 2016 federal budget contains many steps in the right direction for Canadians who rely on high quality public services and underscores the need to truly invest in the FI Community.
“The take home message here for the public service is that evidence-based decision making and a culture of measurement and reporting need to be the bedrock of what we do,” said ACFO Executive Vice-President Dany Richard. “This sort of work is where the FI Community truly shines.”
While the budget keeps the government in deficit for the next few years, the message to public servants is that investments in public services need to be efficient and effective.
“If you need someone who can speak to the business value behind the numbers, you need an FI,” said Richard. “This government has been open about its desire to bring back a culture of trust and respect. In that spirit, we look forward to working with them to determine what investments must be made in our group to make sure we can deliver on this agenda.”
Progress on tax fairness
The budget also includes significant progress on specific policy areas in which ACFO has been active.
ACFO has long argued truly responsible financial management requires looking closely at both revenues and expenses; Budget 2016 reflects that position with strong commitments to tax fairness.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to making sure people and corporations pay what they owe,” said Richard. “It’s about fairness.”
Budget 2016 includes additional money to crack down on tax avoidance, something that was a key theme at ACFO’s Funding Democracy summit in 2015. Doing so will allow the government to recoup an additional $10 billion in revenue over five years, according the budget documents.
The budget also includes a strong commitment to participating in the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) initiative, something ACFO directly raised in talks with officials from Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s office earlier this month.
Related
Update on work arrangement next steps and BA press conference
Last week, ACFO-ACAF President Dany Richard issued a strong statement categorically opposing the three-day in-office mandate announced by Treasury Board […]
Enough is enough: ACFO-ACAF stands firmly against three-day-per-week in-office mandate
Colleagues, As you may have seen, an article in Le Droit (opens in new tab) on Monday shared that the government policy mandating […]
ACFO-ACAF President speaks to MPs about value of CT Community
On Tuesday, March 5, ACFO-ACAF President Dany Richard appeared in front of the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Public […]