Annual public meetings and outreach

Annual Public Meetings

The approach to conducting an annual public meeting will and should vary depending on the organization. However, there are key common features expected in an annual public meeting which include:

• be open to all members of the Canadian public (i.e. not exclusive);
• demonstrate transparency, accountability and accessibility in the eyes of the public;
• provide the public with a means to gain a solid understanding of the corporation’s operations and the opportunity to ask questions or make observations;
• enable interactions with the board of directors and key members of senior management (e.g. CEO, CFO) and the public;
• be conducted in a manner that reflects the national scope of the organization; and
• be evaluated for success and best practices shared within the Crown corporation community.

Each Crown corporation has significant flexibility in regards to its annual public meeting. The nature and scope of the meeting, as well as the location and timing of the meeting, will be determined by the Crown corporation, based on its needs and preferences. Though an annual public meeting by definition should be held once a year, the specific timing and length of the meeting is left to the Crown corporation.

Best practices have been garnered from recent federal Crown corporation annual public meetings, and include:

• provide public notice in a widely accessible manner, well ahead of the meeting date;
• time the annual public meeting to ensure maximum public participation and least expense (i.e. possibly hold at same time as a regular board meeting);
• develop a meeting format that meets the needs and means of the corporation, as well as the needs of the public;
• present a clear outline of the proceedings at the beginning of the meeting;
• allow opportunities for participants to speak; and
• release a meeting summary/debrief after the meeting.

3.1 Guiding Principles for Annual Public Meetings

The following are general, guiding principles that Crown corporations should be aware of during the planning and conducting of annual public meetings:

• 1) The nature and structure of an annual public meeting should reflect the nature of the corporation’s business, mandate, clientele and stakeholders.

  Given the diversity of Crown corporations’ mandate and stakeholders, Crown corporations must be able to determine the nature and structure of annual public meetings as much as possible.

  The method by which an annual public meeting is convened, (whether in person or by electronic means), is to be determined by the Crown corporation. For a national organization, deciding how and where to conduct a public meeting is crucial to its success. The method chosen by a Crown corporation should accommodate the participation of as many sectors of the public, from as many parts of the country, as possible.

• 2) Annual public meetings should demonstrate transparency, accountability, and accessibility, in the eyes of the public.

  Reflecting transparency, accountability and accessibility will increase the public’s understanding of the Crown corporation’s operations and return value to such operations, through the public’s input and contributions. Wherever possible, the facilitation of a two-way dialogue that allows for public question and comment should be enabled by the annual public meeting.

• 3) Annual public meetings do not require significant expenditures.

  Spending on an annual public meeting does not need to be lavish; an annual public meeting can simply involve holding an open board meeting and inviting the public to attend, as well as providing the opportunity to offer opinions or ask questions of the board and senior management. When planning the annual public meeting, Crown corporations should be aware of the public’s perception of the event. Gratis meals or draws for prizes may be inappropriate and are likely to be viewed negatively by portions of the public.

• 4) The on-going sharing of best practices on annual public meetings within the Crown corporation community will remain an important means for improving such meetings and for identifying where useful, certain common approaches exist.

  As Crown corporations hold annual public meetings, it is important for each to share the lessons learned and best practices from their experiences, identifying where useful, certain, common approaches. The Crown Corporation Corporate Secretary Forum provides an excellent opportunity for the corporations to share their experiences with annual public meetings and to learn from their colleagues what worked and what didn’t.

3.2 Common Features of Annual Public Meetings

The following are the key features that can be reflected in a Crown corporation annual public meeting:

• 1) A public meeting is held by the Crown corporation at least once a year. The specific timing or length of this meeting is left to the Crown corporation.

  In some cases, a Crown corporation might decide to hold more than one public meeting per year to ensure that feedback from a significant breadth of stakeholders is received.

  The annual public meeting can take place to coincide with the release of the annual report, the summary of the corporate plan or another event as determined appropriate by the Crown corporation or could be held in conjunction with a regular board meeting.

• 2) Members of the board of directors and senior management should, whenever possible, participate in the annual public meeting.

  The presence of members of the board and key senior management such at the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) provides the public with direct access to the decision makers of the corporation, providing the opportunity to question and to comment.

• 3) A Crown corporation annual public meeting is open to all members of the public.

  Crown corporations should ensure that invitations are open and that all members of the public are welcome to participate in the annual public meeting. Other meetings held by the corporation may include only specific groups of clients or customers, but the annual public meeting is intended for the public at large. Section 5.0 provides links to information on planning inclusive meetings that provide for the special needs of participants.

• 4) The purpose of an annual public meeting is threefold: to provide information on the Crown Corporation’s activities; to solicit feedback from the public; and, to provide the opportunity for members of the public to ask questions.

  Regardless of the format or agenda, Crown corporations should adopt an approach to the annual public meeting that fosters information sharing and discussion of their business. Annual report or corporate plan summaries are possible discussion items. In addition to providing information, the annual public meeting should provide the opportunity for the public to ask questions and provide feedback to the corporation as well. Subsequent annual public meetings also provide the opportunity for corporations to report back on any actions that have been undertaken to address public feedback from previous meetings.

• 5) The size and scope of the Crown corporation may impact the location of the annual public meeting.

  Corporations with a national scope may consider different locations and mechanisms to deliver their annual public meeting than corporations with a regional or local base.

  Crown corporations with national mandates may decide, for example, to engage the public by holding the annual public meeting in a different city or location each year. As well, technology may be used in creative ways to facilitate broader access or discussion (e.g., web casts, call-ins).

• 6) Evaluating the success of the annual public meeting will help the corporation to identify areas for improvement.

  The nature of the evaluation of the annual public meeting is to be determined by the Crown corporation. Self evaluations or participant surveys are common methods used. Efforts should be made by Crown corporations to continuously improve the annual public meeting based on these ongoing evaluations.

3.3 Annual Public Meetings: Best Practices

The following best practices are based on the experiences of Crown corporations who have held annual public meetings. They have been collected by staff from the Treasury Board Secretariat who attended the meetings, or were shared directly by the Crown corporations themselves.

4.1 Common Approaches to Outreach Activities

The majority of Crown corporations are already engaging in outreach activities. The outreach activities discussed above act as a complement to the annual public meeting and provide ongoing opportunities for public input into the activities of the organization. Crown corporations are encouraged to continue to evaluate and improve their outreach activities on an ongoing basis.

The following are suggested guiding principles for Outreach Activities:

• 1) Outreach activities can be utilized to promote the values of transparency, accountability and accessibility.

  A Crown corporation can make available, to stakeholders as much information on their organization as practicable, without compromising their commercial activities.

• 2) A Crown corporation’s mandate, vision and activities can be regularly communicated to the public, in a manner determined by the Crown corporation.

  An effective Crown corporation extends an effort to communicate its activities to its stakeholders. Crown corporations may choose to use their corporate website or publication of their annual report to do so. Other ways to communicate the corporation’s mandate, vision and activities can include: newsletters, brochures and presentations.

• 3) Feedback from stakeholders can be solicited.

  Interested members of the public (including stakeholders such as clients or customers of the corporation) can provide valuable input to the corporation, if provided with opportunities to comment on the activities of the Crown corporation. Information should be made available to members of the public so they know who in the corporation to contact for input.

• 4) Outreach activities can be evaluated and continuously improved.

  Crown corporations can make efforts to continuously improve their outreach activities. New ideas for outreach activities or better methods for utilizing technology for outreach can be sought out and examined on a regular basis. Building a user-feedback mechanism into outreach activities (e.g. interactive feedback form, contact number or email for comments) will help to track whether current outreach activities remain useful and relevant to users.

• 5) Outreach activities can be detailed in the annual report.

  Crown corporations’ outreach activities can be clearly identified in the corporation’s annual report. The nature and content of reporting on outreach activities in the annual report may be determined by the Crown corporation.