While CPJ has publicly raised questions about the integrity of the pre-budget consultation process, we believe that now, more than ever, the voice of public justice needs to be heard in Ottawa, and that continued engagement with our elected officials is a far better choice than disengagement or apathy.
The government’s stated intention – to run in the 2015 election after achieving a budgetary surplus – can impair good policy decisions. We believe this premise of the pre-budget consultations ties Canadians’ hands behind our backs by not allowing for good forward planning, thus limiting the necessary investments in a future we want and need.
In spite of the government’s increasingly limited pre-budget process (requiring submitting organizations to use a template that allows no more than three recommendations and has a limited word count), Fulfilling our Collective Responsibility contains key recommendations around poverty, climate change, and refugees. None of our recommendations require any new expenditure by the federal government; instead, they call for existing expenditures to be reallocated so that they benefit the common good.
Read CPJ’s brief: Fulfilling our Collective Responsibility
