Quarterly financial report for the quarter ended June 30, 2022

Statement of Authorities (unaudited)

* Includes only Authorities available for use and granted by Parliament at quarter-end

Departmental budgetary expenditures by Standard Object (unaudited)

Statement outlining results, risks and significant changes in operations, personnel and program

1. Introduction

This quarterly financial report was prepared by management as required by section 65.1 of the Financial Administration Act and in the form and manner prescribed by Treasury Board. It should be read in conjunction with the 2022-2023 Main Estimates and the 2021-2022 Quarterly Financial Report for the quarter ended June 30, 2021. It has not been subject to an external audit or review.

A summary description of the Military Grievances External Review Committee (Committee) core responsibilities can be found in Part II of the Main Estimates.

Basis of Presentation

This quarterly financial report was prepared by management using an expenditure basis of accounting. The accompanying Statement of Authorities includes the Committee's spending authorities granted by Parliament, and those used by the Committee consistent with the Main Estimates for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. This quarterly report has been prepared using a special purpose financial reporting framework designed to meet financial information needs with respect to the use of spending authorities.

The authority of Parliament is required before money can be spent by the Government. Approvals are given in the form of annually approved limits through appropriation acts, or through legislation, in the form of statutory spending authority for specific purposes.

The Committee uses the full accrual method of accounting to prepare and present its annual departmental financial statements that are part of the departmental results reporting process. However, the spending authorities voted by Parliament remain on an expenditure basis.

2. Highlights of the fiscal quarter and fiscal year-to-date (YTD) results

Statement of Authorities

There was no significant change in the total authorities available for use by the Committee compared to previous year, with only a slight increase of $29,308.

The Statement of Authorities shows that 22% of authorities available for use were expended as of June 30, 2022, compared to 23% during the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

Statement of Departmental Budgetary Expenditures by Standard Object

During the first quarter of 2022-2023, expenses decreased by $113,318 compared to the first quarter of the previous year. This variance is primarily due to a decrease in rent, attributable to the period in which lease payments were settled.

3. Risks and Uncertainties

The Committee continues to see a significant increase in the number of grievance referrals from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). While the requirement for our services continues to surge, the Committee's funding has remained unchanged since the Committee was established in 2000. There is a risk that without additional funding or significant reallocation of funds from other areas, the Committee will not be able to render its findings and recommendations (F&R) reports expeditiously.

The positions of Chairperson, a full-time position, and Full-time Vice-President are vacant. This effectively leaves the Committee with one full-time and two part-time Members instead of three full-time and two part-time Members. The vacant Member positions will impact the Committee's ability to issue F&R reports in a timely manner. The staffing process for Governor-in-Council appointments requires preparation and planning and can take up to a full year. As at the date of writing, these processes have not yet been launched.

Staffing and retention remain a concern. The Operations branch continues to be challenged by staff shortages. The Committee must focus on attraction and retention, which is a constant issue, especially for a micro-organization that is not widely known across government and can neither offer extensive professional development nor career advancement opportunities. We will continue to offer flexible work arrangements to our employees and ensure that their well-being remains a priority. We will also implement modern staffing processes as well as hire from across Canada.

The Committee has put in place mitigation strategies to address these risks. We will review the organizational structure of the Operations Branch by evaluating the possibility of implementing a development program for PM positions. We will also create the position of Triage Officer in an effort to make the Committee more efficient in managing the grievances it receives. We will also operationalize the changes to the financial and human resources delegation instruments to delegate full authority to the part-time vice-president and to the various actors involved to ensure efficient management of the organization. Finally, we will continue to migrate our technological infrastructure to cloud services and take advantage of the advances in this technology to support our employees with a modern, mobile and hybrid work environment.

4. Significant changes in relation to operations, personnel and programs

The Committee anticipates a return to the workplace in October 2022, health mandates permitting considering the rise of the next wave. An internal working group is implementing a new safe, secure, modern and hybrid workplace for the long term that is consistent with the Government of Canada Workplace Initiative. The Committee is in the process of defining its hybrid work model and working on flexible work agreements. It is a consultative process involving all staff and is firmly based on the successes of the last two years.

Approved by:

Original signed by

_________________________________________
François Malo
Part-time Vice-Chairperson
Stittsville, Canada
August 16, 2022

Original signed by

_________________________________________
Jean-François Poirier, CPA, M.P.A.
Chief Financial Officer
Val-des-Monts, Canada
August 16, 2022