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Prime Minister’s Message

On October 14, 2008, Canadians voted in our country’s 40^th general election. Our Government is honoured to have received a renewed and strengthened mandate from the Canadian people. Given the extraordinary global economic recession and the resulting challenges faced by our country, we are very mindful that Canadians have entrusted us to provide leadership.

The exceptional pressures on the world’s financial system and the scale of the slowdown in global economic activity—one not seen in generations—have their origins beyond our borders. Nevertheless, as a trading nation in an open global economy, Canada will be impacted by these events that are being felt here at home, and will work with our international partners in finding solutions.

Our Government is committed to helping Canadians meet the challenges of these difficult times, while working with them to secure a better future. In the face of the current uncertainties, our Government is confident that by working together Canadians can and will prevail and our country will emerge stronger than ever.

To help us provide leadership in difficult times and prepare Canada for a stronger future, our Government will rely on the competence, expertise and non-partisan advice of the Privy Council Office. Executing the plans outlined in this report will assist our Government in achieving its goals.

I am pleased to present the 2009-10 Report on Plans and Priorities for the Privy Council Office and the Public Appointments Commission Secretariat.

Section I - Overview

Raison d’être

Responsibilities

The Privy Council Office reports directly to the Prime Minister and is headed by the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister’s overall responsibility is to provide leadership in creating and sustaining the unity of the Ministry required to maintain the confidence of Parliament. The Prime Minister demonstrates this leadership in two distinct ways:

• through the exercise of unique authorities as head of government; and

• through the management and coordination of the Government’s agenda, as Chair of Cabinet.

The core functions of the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet and those of the entire PCO flow directly from these responsibilities. The strength of PCO is in large measure determined by its ability to concentrate its resources on supporting exclusively these two central responsibilities, in addition to helping the Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet fulfill his role as head of the Public Service.

PCO contributes significantly to the implementation of a clearly articulated Government policy agenda, coordinates timely responses to issues facing the Government and the country, and supports the effective operation of the Cabinet and the government. PCO works to maintain the highest professional and ethical standards in the federal Public Service and to ensure that the Prime Minister and ministers within the Prime Minister’s portfolio receive high-quality, consistent, appropriate and non-partisan policy and legal advice, and objective recommendations.

The main roles of PCO are to:

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

The Privy Council Office introduced its Program Activity Architecture in 2008-09 in an effort to better reflect its role, core mandate and program activities across the organization. This year, as directed by the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Internal Services program activity was added, as it was for all federal departments and agencies.

Planning Summary

Strategic Outcome

PCO achieves its single strategic outcome through contributions from all program activities. Therefore, it relies on information from the individual program activity indicators to determine success in achieving its stated strategic outcome. Given that the work of PCO is heavily oriented to providing advice, performance targets are not appropriate in a number of areas. However, during implementation of the first year of the performance measurement strategy, which began in April 2008, PCO collected quantitative information in selected areas of activity. Over time, this information will highlight trends and contribute to efficiency improvements in operations. In the second year of the multi-year performance measurement strategy, additional performance measures, focused on operations, will be included.  

Summary Table of Planned Spending by Program Activity

Benefits for Canadians

Departmental Priorities for 2009-10

Risk Analysis

PCO’s priorities depend in large part on the Government’s agenda and are subject to a variety of internal and external influences. The most significant of these influences are described below.

Global Economic Challenge

Exceptional turmoil in global credit markets in the second half of 2008 led to sharply lower real economic activity in both developed and developing countries, with negative consequences for Canada’s export-sensitive industries. As well, domestic demand in Canada has been slowing as consumers and businesses reduce spending in the face of economic uncertainty. In response to current global challenges, governments and central banks around the world have been taking unprecedented steps to support financial markets and the broader economy by providing liquidity and other measures to stimulate economic growth. The 2009 Budget sets out the Government of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to respond to this global recession.

As the Government of Canada addresses this core challenge, PCO will provide the Prime Minister with accurate and timely information regarding the economy and economic conditions, and will support effective Cabinet decision making on economic policy. PCO will support the Prime Minister’s engagement with the country’s first ministers in coordinating an effective response to current economic challenges. Over the year ahead, PCO will also continue to work closely with federal departments and agencies to support implementation of the targeted spending measures announced as part of the Budget 2009 stimulus package. PCO will also continue to work with the Department of Finance to produce the Government’s Budget and Economic Statements. In addition, PCO will continue to work with the Department of Finance and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to ensure that Canada meets its commitments under the G7 and G20 plans of action to address the global dimensions of these challenges. 

Canada-U.S. Relations

Canada’s relationship with the United States has always been important. We share a common border that stretches thousands of kilometres, and we are each other’s most important trading partners. In 2007, the annual two-way trade in goods and services between Canada and the U.S. was worth over C$576 billion. The U.S. is an important market for Canadian energy exports, and in 2006, Canada’s energy exports to the United States were valued at around C$85 billion.³

Such an intense and complex relationship inevitably has challenges. Both countries are dealing with a recession. The Government of Canada will work closely with the new U.S. administration in finding solutions to global economic challenges and in enhancing North America’s continued economic competitiveness.

As Canada and the United States continue to work together to strengthen their relationship and address shared challenges, such as an integrated automotive sector and the environment, PCO will focus on supporting the Government in setting and implementing priorities for Canada and on coordinating action across federal departments and agencies.

Changing Demographics

The Public Service is facing a major staff turnover over the next few years. Sixty-six percent of employees in the Public Service are over the age of 40, and more than one quarter of the Public Service population will be eligible to retire without penalty by 2012. At the same time, we are facing a demographic shift in Canada. According to Canadian Demographics at a Glance⁴, between 1956 and 2006 the median age of the Canadian population went from 27.2 years to 38.8 years. By 2056, the median age is expected to reach 46.9 years.

PCO faces this challenge like all other departments, and will be competing for talent in an era of slower labour force growth. With total salary costs representing 67 percent of PCO’s 2009-10 planned spending, people are the organization’s most important asset. As such, it is essential to ensure that the organization is staffed by people who are appropriately qualified to provide analysis and support to the Prime Minister and portfolio ministers. To fulfill this requirement, PCO strives to attract, recruit and retain high-calibre policy analysts and advisors—individuals who not only have specific subject-matter expertise but also possess the experience, the knowledge, the analytical capability and, above all, the dedication needed to provide advice and support of exceptional quality. 

To implement the actions, PCO will work with other departments and agencies to implement actions aimed at promoting Public Service renewal that were identified in the Clerk’s Fifteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada. PCO has also developed a strategic human resources plan with the goal of ensuring organizational sustainability. Building from this plan, PCO has developed an Integrated Business and Human Resources Plan, which links the business and operational priorities of the department with its human resources priorities.

Management of Information

Technological change is occurring at a rapid pace. Consequently, new ways of delivering services and information are quickly becoming an integral part of the federal government’s commitment to providing the best service possible to Canadians in their medium of choice. PCO’s challenge is to manage the vast amounts of information in an efficient and effective manner. In addition, the development of information technology also raises questions about security, confidentiality and privacy, as well as accessibility.

Changes in the world of information management and information technology will require PCO to be flexible, agile, innovative and continually focused on excellence. These adjustments to an ever-evolving world will enable PCO to fully support the Prime Minister in exercising his overall leadership responsibility, as well as contribute to strengthening internal management practices within the department.

Expenditure Profile

Departmental Spending Trend 2005-06 to 2011-12

In the last two years, PCO had higher surpluses caused in part by high staff turnover (the staffing of vacant positions took longer than expected in some cases due to a shortage of skilled personnel) and contracting and accommodation delays. For 2008-09, PCO is forecasting a smaller surplus than in the last two years and is therefore showing a higher amount of forecast spending. This is because extended funding for some commissions of inquiry, new funding for the Afghanistan Task Force and an increase for the Office of the Coordinator for the 2010 Olympics and G8 Security are being considered in 2008-09. In future years, planned spending is expected to decrease primarily because of the conclusion of commissions of inquiry in 2009-10 and because of the winding-up of activities at the Office of the Coordinator for the 2010 Olympics and G8 Security, which will cease operations in fiscal year 2010-11.

Table of Voted and Statutory Items

Major Variances Between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 Main Estimates

The overall increase of $5.6 million from the 2008-09 to the 2009-10 Main Estimates for the Privy Council Office is mainly due to an increase of:

• $4.8 million related to the Afghanistan Task Force;

• $2.0 million related to the Office of the Coordinator for the 2010 Olympics and G8 Security;

• $0.8 million for collective bargaining agreements; and

• $0.1 million for the salary and motor car allowance of the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, since his salary and motor car allowance have changed from a “voted” item to a “statutory” item.

These increases are offset by a decrease of:

• $1.3 million due to the sunsetting of initiatives related to the commissions of inquiry;

• $0.5 million for statutory adjustments related to the employee benefit plans; and

• $0.3 million related to additional efficiency savings related to the Procurement Reform initiative.

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