Response to parliamentary committees and external audits

Response to parliamentary committees

Response to the twenty-sixth report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, entitled Greening Government Strategy

On April 26, 2022, the reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development were tabled in the House of Commons and referred to the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development for study. On April 28, 2022, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts agreed to study one of these reports, “Greening Government Strategy.” The committee noted that:

the Commissioner found that [the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat] led the Greening Government Strategy in a manner that supported some of the federal government’s progress toward reducing its [greenhouse gas] emissions. However, it did not report some sources of federal emissions, and it did not have an approach to manage key risks that could prevent it from meeting the Strategy’s 2050 net‑zero target.

The committee made five recommendations that implicated the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS):

• Recommendation 1
  TBS should provide the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts with a report detailing measures taken to collect data on all Government of Canada sources of greenhouse gas emissions, including those from Crown corporations, and to publish them clearly and comprehensively.
• Recommendation 2
  TBS should provide the committee with a report describing the additional details that will be provided in the next revision of the strategy, particularly on green procurement, clean technology, partnerships, policies and performance measurement.
• Recommendation 3
  TBS should provide the committee with a report detailing its comprehensive approach to managing risks that could affect the government’s ability to achieve the 2050 net‑zero target, including a description of how it will regularly identify, monitor and mitigate significant risks.
• Recommendation 4
  TBS should provide the committee with a report outlining whether
  1. the national safety and security fleet decarbonization plans have been completed
  2. time frames for departments and agencies to develop their greenhouse gas emission reduction and net‑zero plans have been established
  3. an independent review process for departmental real property greenhouse gas emission plans has been implemented
• Recommendation 5
  TBS should provide the Committee with a report explaining its approach to establish and publish projections, and outlining the Greening Government Strategy’s estimated costs and savings, as well as its actions to monitor these costs and savings.

In its response, tabled on June 9, 2023, the government addressed how the recommendations of both the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development and of the Public Accounts Committee were being addressed.

Response to the twenty-ninth report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, entitled Public Accounts of Canada 2022

The committee studied the Public Accounts of Canada 2022 and “recognizes the Government of Canada for maintaining the integrity of its financial controls and reporting, which resulted in a twenty-fourth consecutive unmodified audit opinion from the Auditor General of Canada.”

The committee made two recommendations that implicated TBS:

• Recommendation 1
  That the Office of the Comptroller General, at TBS, in consultation with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts and interested parties, study potential changes to the Public Accounts of Canada to make them more user-friendly and accessible while ensuring a high degree of transparency and accountability from the Government of Canada.
• Recommendation 2
  That the Government of Canada, in accordance with all applicable laws, disclose in the Public Accounts the names of any corporations that receive loan forgiveness from the government and Crown corporations and provide the value of loan forgiveness received in each case.

In its response, tabled on September 27, 2023, the government committed to:

• reviewing sustainability disclosure standards for the public sector as they are being developed and assessing how they will be implemented as part of the government’s sustainability reporting regime
• exploring, including through stakeholder consultations, the potential for greater transparency in the Public Accounts and reporting on these consultations to the Committee on Public Accounts by fall 2024

Response to the ninth report of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, entitled The State of Canada’s Access to Information System

The committee reviewed Canada’s access to information system and explained its important role in a democratic society. The committee also examined legislative and non-legislative measures for improving Canada’s access to information system; the powers, independence and resources of the Information Commissioner of Canada; and the Treasury Board report tabled in Parliament in 2022 on the review of the system.

The report provides 38 recommendations for reforming the system in numerous areas, including:

• legislative amendments
• alternative pathways
• Indigenous concerns
• declassification
• culture training
• digital tools and information management
• transparency and openness

The committee noted, as did most witnesses, that despite the changes brought by Bill C‑58 in 2019 and the best efforts of those working in access to information and privacy in federal institutions, Canada’s access to information system still has many shortcomings. Considering the importance of access to information in a democratic society, it is imperative that actions to improve access to information be taken immediately.

The Government of Canada’s response, tabled on October 17, 2023, expressed a commitment to:

• advancing concrete measures to enable the timely processing of requests
• strengthening the access to information workforce
• improving transparency and access to information for all Canadians and users of the regime, including Indigenous people

Response to audits conducted by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (including audits conducted by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)

Inclusion in the Workplace for Racialized Employees
2023 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada
This audit focused on whether actions and progress made in six organizations fostered an inclusive organizational culture and corrected the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by racialized employees.

The audit made four recommendations that implicated TBS:

• Recommendation 1
  TBS should provide guidance and share best practices that will help organizations establish performance indicators to measure and report on equity and inclusion outcomes in the federal public service. This should include at minimum:
  • a common set of measurable indicators that use reliable survey, organizational human resources, and other data
  • indicators that show comparative results at the racialized employee group and subgroup levels against results for non‑racialized employees
• Recommendation 2
  All six organizations, supported by TBS, should examine their existing complaint resolution processes and ensure that these processes specifically address instances of racism in the workplace and that complaints are received and managed by professionals trained and experienced in the area of racism.
• Recommendation 3
  All six organizations, supported by TBS, should collect and analyze information gathered through complaint resolution processes to identify root causes of disadvantage for racialized employees. Analysis of this information should contribute to preventing and resolving racism in the workplace.
• Recommendation 4
  Each of the six organizations and TBS should establish expected behaviours needed for an anti‑racist and inclusive work environment and against which performance should be assessed for employees. These behaviours should be aligned with specific equity and inclusion outcome indicators and the performance measurement frameworks.

TBS’s responses are in the list of recommendations in the report.

Modernizing Information Technology Systems
2023 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada
This audit focused on whether TBS and Shared Services Canada, as lead organizations, supported the efficient and effective modernization of information technology for departments and agencies.

The audit made four recommendations that implicated TBS:

• Recommendation 1
  TBS should consult with departments and agencies to determine and establish realistic targets and timelines for modernizing applications in poor health. The targets and timelines should be based on a documented methodology that considers factors such as priorities, the critical importance of applications, and the availability of skilled personnel and funding for departments and agencies.
• Recommendation 2
  In coordination with Shared Services Canada and in consultation with departments and agencies, TBS should finalize and implement a comprehensive strategy for addressing the information technology modernization needs of departments and agencies. The strategy should:
  • identify and control the costs of maintaining legacy information technology systems
  • estimate the costs and time frame for modernizing or decommissioning information technology systems
  • re‑evaluate the governance mechanisms in place for prioritizing information technology systems that are to be modernized
  • address the scarcity of personnel with the needed skills to support information technology modernization
  • improve senior department and agency officials’ knowledge and understanding of information technology projects
• Recommendation 3
  TBS should consult with departments and agencies to determine the tools and resources it needs to support government information technology projects, including appropriate funding. TBS should:
  • request and gather accurate and complete data on the status of information technology projects undertaken by departments and agencies
  • identify high‑risk information technology projects undertaken by departments and agencies, including modernization projects
  • increase its capacity and oversee all high‑risk government information technology projects
• Recommendation 4
  TBS, in consultation with relevant stakeholders, should revise current funding mechanisms or develop new funding mechanisms to help departments and agencies modernize their information systems. The revised or new funding mechanisms should:
  • be timely, adaptable and efficient, and consider the immediate and future modernization needs of departments and agencies, including considering information technology modernization projects that span multiple years
  • centralize the control and management of allotted funding to help prioritize and coordinate information technology modernization spending
  • require departments and agencies receiving funding to regularly report back on their information technology modernization efforts and results

TBS’s responses are in the list of recommendations in the report.

The Benefits Delivery Modernization Programme
2023 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada
This audit focused on how effectively Employment and Social Development Canada has managed the implementation of the Benefit Delivery Modernization programme to date to ensure uninterrupted, timely and accurate delivery of benefits from Old Age Security, the Canada Pension Plan, and Employment Insurance.

TBS received one recommendation:

TBS’s responses are in the list of recommendations in the report.

Departmental Progress in Implementing Sustainable Development Strategies—Zero‑Emission Vehicles
2023 Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
This audit focused on whether selected federal organizations contributed to meeting the target of zero-emission vehicles in the federal administrative fleet under the Greening Government goal in the 2019–2022 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy.

It also focused on whether they demonstrated their contributions to target 12.7 (to promote sustainable public procurement practices) under the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), as applicable to each organization.

TBS received no recommendations.

Response to audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages

No audits in 2023–24 required a response.