ARCHIVED - Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada - Supplementary Tables

Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food: Potato Cyst Nematode

The report was adopted by the Committee on April 28, 2009, and presented to the House of Commons on May 7, 2009.

A Government Response, as requested by the Committee, was presented to the House of Commons on September 14, 2009. It included a full response to the four recommendations of the report. The Government shares the Committee's commitment to address the needs of the potato sector facing transition, regulatory constraints, pressures on short-term liquidity, and long-term competitiveness challenges.

The response is available on the Parliament of Canada’s website.

Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry

The Committee tabled its fourth report (final) entitled Beyond Freefall: Halting Rural Poverty on June 4, 2009. This report was a result of the Committee’s study to examine and report on rural poverty in Canada. The report included 68 recommendations and was adopted by the Senate on June 18, 2009.

The Government Response included responses from 29 departments, agencies and Crown corporations, which gave careful consideration to the report's 68 recommendations. The Government Response was deposited with the Clerk of the Senate on November 13, 2009.

The Government of Canada supports the spirit and intent of the Committee's report and recommendations, which recognize that rural Canada is a vibrant and vital part of the country and that it is important for all levels of government and economic sectors to work together to develop opportunities for rural communities.

The Government Response was presented in four parts: a coordinated approach for sustained rural growth and prosperity; investments and partnerships to stimulate rural economies; investments and partnerships to support vulnerable Canadians and improve quality of life; and investments and partnerships to re-vitalize rural communities.

The response is available on the Parliament of Canada’s website.

Chapter 1 of the November 2009 report by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) concerned a government-wide audit that examined program evaluation in relation to the measurement of program effectiveness, covering the five-year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09. The objective of the audit was to determine whether selected departments, including Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), and the Treasury Board Secretariat (Centre of Excellence for Evaluation) could demonstrate that the needs for effectiveness evaluation were being met, and that improvements in effectiveness evaluation had been identified and acted upon.

AAFC agreed with the Auditor General's recommendations and is taking action to address them. The report and a listing of recommendations with management responses from the six departments can be found on the Auditor General's website.

The OAG completed an audit on the Net Income Stabilization Account (NISA) Program for 2008-09. The objective of the audit was to provide an independent opinion on “whether the final statement had been fairly presented, in all material respects, in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.” The audit report contained no recommendations¹.

In May 2009, the Public Service Commission (PSC) released its report on the audit of the Federal Student Work Experience Program. Several departments, including AAFC, were included in the audit. The objective of the audit was to determine whether departments hiring students through Federal Student Work Experience Program, and making subsequent appointments using bridging mechanisms, were doing so in accordance with TBS and PSC policies and regulations.

AAFC agreed with the recommendations and provided a management response. The audit report includes a general management response based on the comments received from the departments audited. The audit report and general management response can be found on PSC's website.