Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits - 2013–14 Departmental Performance Report - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
Response to Parliamentary Committees and External Audits
Response to Parliamentary Committees
Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs: Report 42, Access to Information Requests and Parliamentary Privilege (Adopted by the Committee on February 28, 2013; presented to the House on March 7, 2013.)
| Summary of Report | Discussion of Progress Made to Address Recommendations | Link to the Secretariat’s Response |
|---|---|---|
| The Committee’s substantive recommendation outlines a document classification process that would guide House officials and committees in deciding whether to consent to the release of documents encompassed by parliamentary privilege when consulted by government institutions that have received an Access to Information request. |
In its response, the Government welcomed the Committee’s report and reinforced its commitment to openness and transparency. Given that the recommendation was directed to the House of Commons and its officials and in recognition of the House of Commons’ role in deciding on matters of privilege, the Government did not state an opinion on the Committee’s recommendation. The Government response does state that, with respect to amending the Access to Information Act to clarify issues related to parliamentary privilege, it will take the matter under advisement. |
Government Response: (Presented to the House on July 17, 2013) |
Response to the Auditor General (including the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development)
2013 Spring Report of the Auditor General of Canada
Chapter 1—Status Report on Evaluating the Effectiveness of Programs
The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether selected federal organizations and the Secretariat made satisfactory progress on implementing recommendations from the chapter on evaluating the effectiveness of programs in the 2009 Fall Report of the Auditor General of Canada.
The audit sub-objectives were to determine whether:
- Organizations established requirements for effectiveness evaluations;
- The Secretariat demonstrated the capacity to support organizations to meet established requirements for effectiveness evaluations;
- Organizations had and used ongoing performance information to support effectiveness evaluations;
- The Secretariat supported organizations in generating information from ongoing performance measurement;
- Selected organizations used findings and recommendations from effectiveness evaluations to support policy and program improvement as well as expenditure management; and
- The Secretariat supported federal organizations in using findings and recommendations from effectiveness evaluations to support policy and program improvement as well as expenditure management.
The audit did not examine the quality of evaluations, or whether evaluation findings were used to support strategic reviews of expenditures. The Secretariat received three recommendations. The Secretariat’s responses can be found in this chapter’s Appendix—List of recommendations.
Chapter 2—Status Report on Security in Contracting
The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether the Secretariat, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) and selected federal organizations have made satisfactory progress on addressing issues reported in the 2007 October Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Chapter 1—Safeguarding Government Information and Assets in Contracting.
The audit focused on the security screening process for assessing the loyalty (including reliability) of external contractors and their firms; the granting of access to classified information and assets; and other related contract security activities.
The following entities were included in the audit: the Secretariat, PWGSC, RCMP, National Defence, Defence Construction Canada, Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). CSIS and CSEC were included due to their responsibilities as lead agencies, their focus on security, and the nature of the information they need to do their work.
The Secretariat received one recommendation. The Secretariat’s responses can be found in this chapter’s Appendix—List of recommendations.
Chapter 4—Official Development Assistance Through Multilateral Organizations
The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether the responsible federal organizations promote Canadian development priorities and assess on an ongoing basis the effectiveness of spending on Official Development Assistance delivered through multilateral organizations.
The audit focused on whether:
- The allocation of funding spent on Official Development Assistance is consistent with the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act and Canada’s development priorities;
- Federal organizations obtain and analyze information to determine if the funding they provide to multilateral organizations is achieving identified objectives; and
- Federal organizations work together to identify and implement strategies for providing funding to multilateral organizations that are working to advance international assistance objectives consistent with Canadian priorities.
The Secretariat did not receive any recommendations.
Chapter 8—Spending on the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism Initiative
The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether the reporting on the use of funds under the Public Security and Anti-Terrorism (PSAT) initiative was complete and accurate, and aligned with PSAT’s objectives and themes.
The audit covered funding allocated under PSAT to 35 federal organizations and their expenditures as reported by the recipients annually. Federal organizations were required to complete and submit reports for each year in which an activity (program or project) received funding under the initiative.
The effectiveness of the spending under PSAT and the merit of the activities that received funding were not examined, nor was the spending under PSAT of provincial and municipal partners. The Secretariat received one recommendation. The Secretariat’s responses can be found in this chapter’s Appendix—Recommendation.
Chapter 9—Employment Insurance Overpayments—Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
This audit focused on activities of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC)1 to make informed decisions on where and how to invest its resources to minimize the loss associated with overpayments of Employment Insurance income benefits.
Since August 2005, the Canada Revenue Agency has been responsible for collecting Employment Insurance debts on behalf of HRSDC. The audit did not assess the actions to recover overpayments. More details about the audit objective, scope, approach and criteria are in the About the Audit section at the end of this chapter. The Secretariat was a third party in the audit and did not receive any recommendations.
Chapter 10—Advance Funding—P3 Canada Fund
The objective of the audit was to determine whether there is a net financing cost related to funding provided to PPP Canada for the P3 Canada Fund in advance of the corporation’s disbursement needs.
The audit involved PPP Canada as manager of the P3 Canada Fund as well as the Department of Finance Canada and the Secretariat, given their roles in the approval of P3 funding. PPP Canada’s costs associated with managing its P3 Canada Fund investments were not considered. The Secretariat received one recommendation. The Secretariat’s responses can be found in this chapter’s Appendix—List of recommendations.
2013 Fall Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD)
The CESD reported on the progress made by five organizations that are required to contribute to meeting selected federal sustainable development strategy (FSDS) targets:
- Environment Canada;
- Department of Finance Canada;
- HRSDC;
- Industry Canada; and
- Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
The CESD included observations about these organizations’ implementation strategies for targets at both the federal and departmental levels. The CESD also reported on environmental sustainable development initiatives at Correctional Service Canada, a government agency that has voluntarily prepared a sustainable development strategy since 1997.
The CESD concentrated the review on departmental implementation strategies that contribute to the FSDS government-wide targets for greening government operations. Also examined was how well organizations met their individual development strategy commitments to update their internal guidance related to environmental assessments, and their processes for reporting results. The CESD did not examine the completeness of the details in the reported results related to strategic environmental assessments. The review did not produce any recommendations.
Chapter 9—Environmental Petitions
The objective of this annual report was to inform Parliament about the use of the environmental petitions process. In accordance with section 23 of the Auditor General Act, the report describes the number, nature, and status of petitions, and the timeliness of responses from ministers.
The annual report on environmental petitions summarized the monitoring of the petitions process by the CESD within the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. The Secretariat was a third party in the audit and did not receive any recommendations.
2013 Fall Report of the Auditor General of Canada
Chapter 1—Follow-Up Audit on Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
The audit objective was to determine whether the Secretariat and the seven selected organizations had made satisfactory progress toward addressing the two recommendations on internal controls on financial reporting in the 2011 June Status Report of the Audit General of Canada (Chapter 1—Financial Management and Control and Risk Management), and whether they had since implemented the Policy on Internal Control.
The audit covered the Secretariat, including the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG), as well as the following seven large departments, which together represent about 60 per cent of government expenditures:
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada;
- Department of Finance Canada;
- Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada;
- HRSDC;
- Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada;
- Transport Canada; and
- Veterans Affairs Canada.
The Secretariat received one recommendation. The Secretariat’s responses can be found in this chapter’s Appendix—List of recommendations.
Chapter 2—Access to Online Services
The overall objective of the audit was to determine whether selected government entities offer client-focused online services.
Sub-objectives were to determine whether:
- There is a government-wide strategy for the delivery of services with planned benefits;
- There is service delivery integration among major partners;
- Selected entities have service delivery strategies that consider cost-effectiveness and client needs and expectations; and
- Selected entities deliver services in a secure, available, relevant and cost-effective way.
The audit covered services that government entities provided online. The detailed audit work focused on four departments: HRSDC, the Canada Revenue Agency, Veterans Affairs Canada and Industry Canada. These departments were selected because they:
- Directly provide services to individuals and business;
- Collectively provide the majority of services to individuals and business; and
- Administer a variety of programs.
The audit examined how each organization identified and considered cost-effectiveness and Canadians’ needs in program delivery. Specific life events were also used to determine how Canadians obtain services online from the government. The selected life events included the following:
- Individuals: birth of a child, change of address, retirement, death, and obtaining disability benefits; and
- Businesses: starting a business and managing a business.
The Secretariat was included in the audit because it is the central agency responsible for several initiatives on this subject matter. The Secretariat received two recommendations. The Secretariat’s responses can be found in this chapter’s Appendix—List of recommendations.
Chapter 3—National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy
The objective of the audit was to determine whether PWGSC, National Defence, Industry Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have designed and are managing the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) in a manner that will help sustain Canadian shipbuilding capacity and capability to procure ships in a timely and affordable manner.
A second objective was to determine whether National Defence and PWGSC, in consultation with the Secretariat, are managing the acquisition of military ships in alignment with the NSPS to support the recapitalization of the naval fleet in a timely and affordable manner.
The Secretariat was not required to respond to any recommendations; however, it will be working with PWGSC on Recommendation 3.66.