[ Backgrounder ]October 30, 2003OTTAWA - The Honourable Lucienne Robillard, President of the Treasury Board of Canada and MP forWestmount - Ville-Marie, today tabled Canada's Performance 2003 in theHouse of Commons.Canada's Performance 2003 is the third report in a multi-year initiativedesigned to provide a context for assessing the performance of federal programs and initiatives. It is an annual reporton the quality of life of Canadians in the following areas: economic opportunities and innovation; health; environment;and strength and safety of communities. The report highlights the state of the economy and society by using 20 societalindicators and establishes comparisons with other countries."Canada's Performance is a unique report in the federal government as it links quality of life information to thepriorities and contributions of government programs and policies, while also allowing us to compare Canada with othercountries," explained Minister Robillard. "Canada is one of the few countries to publish this kind of report, and is aworld leader in promoting the achievement of results as a foundation for modern management."This year, climate change was added as one of the indicators being tracked for the report. This addition reflectsthe government's commitment to deal effectively with climate change and other environmental challenges."This report is an invaluable tool to support the government in making better decisions on investments now and inthe future" said Minister Robillard. "The Government of Canada is committed to improving its performance and ensuringresponsible spending."Canada's Performance 2003 highlights Canada's strengths as well as theareas where we need to improve. Canada's economy has shown strong performance, but certain populations continue to bedisproportionately below the Low Income Cut-Off, namely Aboriginals, new immigrants and female single-parent families.Improvements are particularly noticeable in the area of life expectancy and infant mortality; self-rated health statusis declining, and obesity is increasing. Progress has been made on air and water quality while there continues to because for concern in the areas of biodiversity and climate change. In addition, progress has been made in neighbourhoodsafety and there continues to be a decline in civic participation."The objectives of Canada's Performance 2003 are to provide transparencyand accountability to parliamentarians, to build trust and encourage citizen engagement, and to encourage a modernmanagement regime focused on results" said Minister Robillard.Please refer to the attached backgrounder for more information.- 30 -For more information, contact:Daniel GrenierPress SecretaryOffice of the President of the Treasury Board of Canada(613) 957-2666Mario BarilMedia RelationsTreasury Board of Canada Secretariat(613) 957-2391IF THERE IS A DISCREPANCY BETWEEN ANY PRINTED VERSION AND THE ELECTRONIC VERSION OF THIS NEWS RELEASE, THEELECTRONIC VERSION WILL PREVAIL.TTY (Telecommunications device for the hearing impaired) - (613) 957-9090 BackgrounderCANADA'S PERFORMANCE 2003IntroductionCanada's Performance 2003 provides a high-level overview on the qualityof life of Canadians, measured by 20 societal indicators that highlight how our national performance is changing overtime. The indicators were chosen because they are ones that matter strongly to Canadians and because they can betracked and reported on over the years.Taken together, the indicators reflect a balance of social, economic and environmental interests. These issues havebeen grouped according to four areas, commonly highlighted in the Speech from the Throne: economicopportunities and innovation; the health of Canadians; the environment; and the strength and safety of communities.This year, in response to recommendations by senior government officials and subject matter experts, a twentiethindicator on climate change was added to the report. Also this year, the international perspective has been expandedand international comparisons are provided for most indicators.The report also includes breakdowns by region, by gender and by groups of Canadians, for example, Aboriginal peoplesand new immigrants. To facilitate government-wide analysis, the report also groups departments and agencies that worktowards similar objectives within each theme. Canada's Performance is a strategic tool in that the electronic versionlinks to a database, providing access to Departmental Reports on Plans and Priorities, Departmental PerformanceReports, and audit and evaluation information.BackgroundCanada's Performance 2003 is part of a multi-year initiative to providea context for assessing the performance of federal programs and initiatives.The themes and societal indicators are:1) Economic Opportunities and Innovation in Canada: real gross domestic product per capita, real disposable incomeper capita, innovation, employment, literacy and educational attainment.2) The Health of Canadians: life expectancy, self-rated health status, infant mortality and healthy lifestyle.3) The Canadian Environment: climate change (new indicator), air quality, water quality, biodiversity and toxicsubstances in the environment.4) The Strength and Safety of Canadian Communities: volunteerism, attitudes toward diversity, culturalparticipation, political participation and safety and security.Of the 20 indicators in Canada's Performance 2003, improving performanceis in: real gross domestic product per capita; real disposable income per capita; innovation; employment; educationalattainment; life expectancy; infant mortality; air quality; water quality; and safety and security.Areas for improvement are in: self-rated health status; climate change (new indicator); biodiversity; volunteerism;and political participation.Indicators that have no trend data or significant change are: literacy; healthy lifestyle; toxic substances in theenvironment; attitudes towards diversity; and cultural participation.
