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REMARKS

Dennis Walcott Advocates for Baselining in Budget Discussions

0:45:53

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80 sec

In his remarks, Dennis Walcott, the President of the Queen's Public Library, discusses the concept of baselining in budget discussions. He emphasizes the importance of baselining for stability and predictability in budgetary processes, highlighting the exhausting cycle of fluctuating funds and the erosion of the dollar's value. Walcott argues for a discussion beyond mere restoration of funds, focusing on the secure baselining of the administration's money that benefits public institutions. He also delves into the significance of understanding the capital budget and its impact on communal resources, pointing out the lack of general awareness about what 'capital' truly means for community benefits. The discussion extends to the role of great institutions and buildings standing the test of time as pivotal elements in serving communities. Walcott's dialogue underscores the need for a deeper engagement with the intricacies of budgeting to ensure sustainable funding for essential public services, advocating for a more informed and strategic approach to financial planning in the public sector.

Dennis Walcott

0:45:53

Now I want to reflect back to what the chair asked us around are people aware about banning throughout basic society?

0:46:02

There's a word that we use internally that I think a lot of people don't have a clear understanding about it, and that's baselining.

0:46:09

I think baselining is so key as far as the discussion and debate moving forward.

0:46:15

Because you, we all of us are tired of going through this up and down.

0:46:21

That and forth battle all the time, and then the erosion of the dollar.

0:46:26

So when Linda talked about, you know, we should not even be talking about restoration.

0:46:30

We should be talking beyond that.

0:46:32

And how we baseline your money, how we baseline the administration's money that benefit us.

0:46:37

And then also, as Tony indicated, and I think we'll be talking about it more, in March, the capital and what it actually means.

0:46:44

When we talk about getting into the weeds of the discussion, we're talking about getting into the weeds of the capital budget and how it impacts your money, how it impacts the administration, the executive side of the government's money as far as what we're doing.

0:46:57

And people don't have a clear understanding of what capital actually means to benefit the communities and having great institutions and having visionary institutions and having buildings that stand up to the test of time.

0:47:10

And that to me is an important part of the discussion as well.

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