The basic components of parliamentary
financial procedure may be succinctly described as follows:
Consolidated Revenue Fund: the account into which the government deposits taxes, tariffs,
excises and other revenues, once collected, and from which it withdraws the
money it requires to cover its expenditures.[7]
Royal Recommendation:a message from the Governor General
required for any vote, resolution, address or bill for the appropriation of
public revenue.[8]
Only a Minister can obtain such a recommendation.
Supply: the
process by which the government submits its projected annual expenditures (the
estimates) for parliamentary approval.
Borrowing authority: the authorization that may be granted to the Minister of
Finance by the Governor in Council to make up any shortfall between revenues
and expenditures.
Ways and means:the process by which the
government sets out its economic policy (the budget) and obtains the necessary
resources to meet its expenses.
Public Accounts: the annual statement and review of the government’s financial
transactions.
[7]Constitution Act, 1867, R.S. 1985, Appendix II,
No. 5, s. 103.
[8]Constitution Act, 1867, R.S. 1985, Appendix II,
No. 5, s. 54.
