ARCHIVED - Government Response to the Sixteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

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Recommendation 1

The Office of the Auditor General publishes in its annual departmental performance report the percentage of recommendations implemented by individual departments.

Recommendation 1 is the responsibility of the Office of the Auditor General and, therefore, does not require a government response.

Recommendation 2

The Treasury Board Secretariat recommences its review of the implementation level of recommendations of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada and provides the results to the Public Accounts Committee upon completion.

Interaction between departments and the Office of the Auditor General is supported by the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Audit, which came into effect April 1, 2006.  This new Policy and the related directives, provide for the creation of departmental audit committees in large departments and agencies.  The responsibilities of these committees include the review of Auditor General reports and corresponding management action plans.  They are also required to ensure that there are effective arrangements in place to monitor and follow-up on these commitments.  Additionally, the departmental audit committees are to prepare annual reports to the deputy head; this reporting provides a forum to comment on implementation issues.

As part of its Management Accountability Framework assessments of departments, which are made public, the Treasury Board Secretariat will monitor departmental audit action plans and where warranted, provide feedback to departments.

 Recommendation 3

As the Auditor General  is an independent officer of Parliament, the Treasury Board Secretariat establishes a clear bargaining mandate and envelope, and that the Office of the Auditor General is permitted to negotiate with its union bargaining units independently and without interference within this mandate and envelope through collective bargaining process.

Pursuant to the Auditor General Act, the Auditor General is authorized to exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the Treasury Board under the Financial Administration Act that relate to personnel management including the determination of terms and conditions of employment and the responsibility for employer and employee relations within the Office of the Auditor General, which is listed as a separate agency under Schedule V of the Financial Administration Act.

Notwithstanding the above, separate agencies must obtain negotiation mandates from the President of the Treasury Board defining the objectives and limits to be observed in their negotiations with union bargaining agents.  As well, Section 112 of the Public Service Labour Relations Act requires separate agencies to obtain Governor in Council authority before entering into collective agreements with bargaining agents.  The Governor in Council seeks assurances from separate agencies that the terms of proposed collective agreements are consistent with their negotiation mandates.

As a separate agency, the Office of the Auditor General is responsible for all aspects of the conduct of the negotiations with the bargaining agents within the parameters of the authorized mandate.

Since the appearance of the Auditor General before the Public Accounts Committee in February 2007, the Secretary of the Treasury Board met with the Auditor General in March 2007 to discuss her concerns.  It was agreed, consequently, that further meetings between officials of both organizations should be held with the view to improving consultations and collaboration during the process of obtaining negotiation mandates.

 Recommendation 4

The Treasury Board Secretariat works with Parliamentarians and Committees of the House of Commons and Senate to improve departmental performance reports before the next round of performance reports.

The government is always seeking to improve departmental reporting and to respond to parliamentarians' needs.  For example, as part of the Management Accountability Framework assessments, the Treasury Board Secretariat reviews reports on plans and priorities and departmental performance reports against good public reporting principles and provides feedback to departments in order to continually improve reporting to Parliament.  The development of the Canada's Performance Report and the Report on Plans and Priorities Overview for Parliamentarians website have been integral to presenting a government-wide lens through which parliamentarians are able to view the spending, plans and performance of individual departments.

The renewed Expenditure Management System sets the foundation for further improvements to parliamentary reporting.  Budget 2006, the November 2006 Economic and Fiscal Update and Budget 2007 confirmed the Government's commitment and elaborated on the direction and key characteristics of the renewed Expenditure Management System in which the use of results in managing, decision-making, and reporting will be central.  Existing initiatives such as the Management, Resources, and Results Structure Policy and a proposed strengthening of the Evaluation Policy will support the integration of results into the Expenditure Management System and, by so doing, assist departments in producing credible performance information, linking resources to results and demonstrating value for money. 

The government welcomes the Committee's interest and the opportunity to work with parliamentarians to improve departmental performance reports.