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Wow, quite a day for the government. Watchdogs, from all quarters, piping in, none of it flattering.

Budget Officer Kevin Page, who is building an impressive track record for accurate predictions, unlike Deficit Jim:

Canada's parliamentary budget officer is casting doubt on the federal government's rosy projections in the budget, saying the recession will likely be deeper than expected and Ottawa's stimulus package smaller and less effective.

Kevin Page told a parliamentary committee Thursday the government's claimed $39.9 billion stimulus package over two years is effectively about 20 per cent smaller, at $31.8 billion.

And he adds that a portion of the smaller amount may not find its way into the economy because $10 billion is contingent on shared spending by other levels of government.

The difference will mean the extra spending is unlikely to create or save the 190,000 jobs projected by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Page said, estimating the number at closer to 120,000.

Our new Environment Commissioner, picking up where his predecessor left off:

"Due to the nature of federal-provincial trust funds, it will be difficult for the government to support its claim that the $1.5 billion it is spending on the Clean Air and Climate Change Trust Fund will actually achieve the target it has set for lowering greenhouse gas emissions," Vaughan says.

Environment Canada "conducted almost no analysis to support that figure," he reports. "The little analysis it did undertake is based on flawed assumptions -- for example, that all provinces and territories face identical opportunities, challenges and economic conditions for achieving emission reductions."

"Since the basis for the estimate is flawed, we cannot determine what a reasonable range of expected results should have been."...

OTTAWA — When the Conservative government walked away from Canada's Kyoto Protocol targets, it argued its less ambitious plan was more credible and based on “real, measurable and verifiable results.”

Scott Vaughan, Canada's new Commissioner of the Environment, says the government has failed on all three fronts.

Adjectives such as weak, poor, negligible and disappointing pepper the scathing review of two central and costly pillars of the Conservative climate-change plan.

"Weak, poor, negligible and disappointing", sounds about right. More evidence of our "leading the world" approach on climate change.

During the last election, Stephen Harper bragged about the Conservatives record on food safety. Auditor General Sheila Fraser:

Auditor-General slams food inspections

OTTAWA — Federal inspectors spend more time certifying Canadian exports of fruits and vegetables than making sure that the plants and produce that come into Canada are bug- and disease-free, the Auditor-General has found.

In a report released Thursday, Sheila Fraser called for greater protection of Canada's crops and forests, given the associated industries are worth $100-billion a year.

Ms. Fraser pointed to the threats associated with invasive plants, seeds, pests and diseases, and was alarmed to report that “high-risk imported commodities … are sometimes released for distribution without being inspected....”

"Accountability", the Conservatives consistent nemesis.