During his short tenure as Canada's interim parliamentary budget officer, Jason Jacques endured accusations of partisanship, criticism over his message delivery and, in the end, praise for representing an institution now ranked first among its international equals.

Appointed in September by Prime Minister Mark Carney to sit in the chair until a permanent parliamentary budget officer (PBO) could be appointed, Jacques decided early that he wanted his six months to have an impact.

On his first day he asked the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to undertake its very first review of Canada's Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer to see how it measures up to similar institutions in other countries. The review looked at the office itself — which provides independent financial analysis to Parliament — rather than individual officers.

That review, delivered last week, ranked the PBO first out of the 35 countries the OECD evaluated. Second on the list is the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, third is the Bureau for Economic Analysis in the Netherlands.