This year's winners are Export Development Canada and the Canadian Commercial Corporation Ottawa, 16 December 2004 -- Export Development Canada and the Canadian Commercial Corporation have won the 2004 Award for Excellence in Annual Reporting by Crown Corporations, the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, announced today. The Auditor General's awards program was launched in 1993 to recognize exemplary achievement in annual reporting among Crown corporations, and to promote better reporting within this community. "Good annual reporting allows Parliamentarians to hold Crown corporations accountable," says the Auditor General. "Since the start of this awards program, some Crown corporations have significantly improved their reporting to Parliament." A panel of experts assisted the Auditor General in assessing the annual reports of 46 federal Crown corporations, which were divided into two categories based on size. The reports were judged against a range of criteria that included content, quality of information, and presentation. Export Development Canada was the winner from the group of larger corporations; the other finalists in that group were the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation and Farm Credit Canada. The Canadian Commercial Corporation was the winner from the group of smaller corporations; the other finalists were the Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation and the International Development Research Centre. "This is the third consecutive year that Export Development Canada has won this award and the second consecutive time for the Canadian Commercial Corporation," said Ms. Fraser. "I congratulate these organizations for their continuing efforts to improve their reporting to Parliament." The following panel of experts assisted the Auditor General in selecting this year's Award winners: Gérald Cossette, Executive Director, Management Strategies, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat; Michael Eastman, Executive Director, CCAF-FCVI; Laura H. Nixon, Vice-President Finance and Chief Executive Officer, Rogers Media Inc.; Jon W. Singleton, Auditor General of Manitoba; and David Smith, President, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. - 30 - For further information about the program, including the Award criteria, visit the Office of the Auditor General of Canada Web site. Information: Julie Hébert, Communications Tel.: (613) 952-9213, ext. 6292 E-mail: communications@oag-bvg.gc.ca
