The main estimates are one of the mechanisms that actually give departments and agencies the authority to spend public funds. The Liberals have introduced changes as they try to fulfil their 2015 election promise to improve Parliament's financial processes by bringing more consistency and clarity when it comes to government accounting of how it spends public money. But the parliamentary budget office said the Liberals' efforts to speed up the implementation of budget measures will come at a cost. A spokesman for Brison insisted Tuesday that, by law, the funds must be allocated to specific budget measures. "Parliamentarians can now literally follow the money from this new central vote to a specific line in the budget and the main estimates."

Source: CBC News May 01, 2018 17:48 UTC