Parliamentary Budget Officer says he can review free trade agreements

I am publicly releasing a letter addressed to me from the Parliamentary Budget Officer regarding the seventh recommendation made in my report titled "review of Free Trade Agreements and Trade Policies in Canada 2006-2015" released on May 27, 2015.

Recommendation 7: Given the Parliamentary Budget Officer the mandate and the resources to independently review all free trade agreements; ensure that government publicly issue the negotiated and final texts; and ensure that Parliament ratify all free trade agreements.

PBO's answer (extract) - translated from French: "We would be able to produce a report on the impact on GDP and employment that would result from the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union (CETA). [...]

"We would need a software [...] This, in addition to the required training costs could total about $30 000.00 which the PBO is prepared to pay. [...]

"It would be best to hire two people totally dedicated to this project, which would represent an annual expenditure of 240,000 dollars, including salaries and benefits, a sum I unfortunately cannot absorb right now.

"If the Parliamentary Budget Officer were to be provided these resources permanently, it would be possible to produce reports on the other international trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership."

The letter of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (original in French)

Summary of the report (7 pages)

The full report (61 pages)