This page has been archived.Section II—Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
This section describes the PPSC's three program activities and priorities and plans for 2009-10.
| Program Activity Expected Results | Performance Indicators | Targets |
|---|---|---|
| Litigation files that are prosecuted are decided on merit |
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| Disposition of cases that are not decided on merit |
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Description of Activity
Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support during the police investigation, and prosecutes all drug charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, regardless of whether a federal, provincial or municipal police agency lays the charges, except in the case of Quebec and New Brunswick, where the PPSC prosecutes drug charges laid by the RCMP. Some of these cases involve organized crime.
Pursuant to agreements and arrangements with the provinces, the PPSC also prosecutes Criminal Code offences where they are related to drug charges and the drug aspect forms the major part of the case. In the three territories, the PPSC prosecutes all Criminal Code offences.
The PPSC also provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support during police investigations5, and prosecutes charges under the Part II.1 of the Criminal Code (Terrorism), and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Terrorism Financing Act to combat trans-national crime and terrorism.
Finally, this program activity involves the promotion of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation on criminal justice issues of mutual concern. This work is carried out through the PPSC's participation in the FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee which supports and promotes effective horizontal linkages between various stakeholders involved in the administration of criminal justice in Canada. The PPSC also participates in dialogue with other stakeholders involved in the criminal justice field. These activities ensure that key linkages are developed and maintained with relevant professional and governmental organizations, both nationally and internationally.
During 2007-08, this program activity involved approximately 60,089 litigation files. The projected volume of litigation files for 2008-09 is 65,842.
Planning Highlights for 2009-10
Within this program activity, two ongoing priorities relate to organized crime and terrorism-related offences.
The focus on organized crime reflects the priority given to this issue by the federal government, federal police and other law enforcement authorities. The PPSC will continue to emphasize inter-jurisdictional cooperation within the prosecutorial community and with investigative agencies both federally, nationally and internationally; provide advice and litigation support during the investigative stage, especially on highly complex cases; prosecute organized crime cases on behalf of the Crown; and pursue proceeds of crime and offence-related property. While all PPSC regional offices prosecute organized crime cases, a number of them are involved in highly complex and resource-intensive cases that will continue through 2009-10, and will require dedicated teams of experienced counsel.
The priority given to terrorism-related offences reflects the gravity with which national security matters are viewed. Four PPSC regional offices are currently prosecuting cases in which charges of terrorism have been laid, and dedicated teams of experienced counsel have been established to prosecute three of them. These cases are usually resource-intensive and some will carry over to 2009-10.
During 2009-10, the PPSC will continue to work closely with FPT heads of prosecution on issues and challenges of common interest, to co-chair the FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee and to offer secretarial and administrative support, in addition to renewing efforts to ensure ongoing linkages between the Committee and partners from outside the prosecution community such as the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) and the Federation of Law Societies. The PPSC will also continue to participate in the work of the Heads of Prosecuting Agencies Conference (HOPAC) and the International Association of Prosecutors (IAP).
During 2009-10, the PPSC will continue to receive foreign delegations interested in criminal justice and who are seeking to deepen their understanding of the Canadian justice system and Canadian prosecution approaches, particularly in relation to drug and terrorism prosecutions, and with respect to areas of the Criminal Code of Canada.
Benefits to Canadians
This program activity contributes to ensuring a safe and secure Canada through the prosecution of a broad range of criminal activities. It deals with drug-related offences, complex organized crime cases, terrorism offences as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
5 It should be noted that the operational priority for prosecution-related advice during the investigative stage is primarily on highly complex cases.
| Program Activity Expected Results | Performance Indicators | Targets |
|---|---|---|
| Litigation files that are prosecuted are decided on merit |
|
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| Disposition of cases that are not decided on merit |
|
|
Description of Activity
Under this program activity, the PPSC provides prosecution-related advice and litigation support to federal investigative agencies, and prosecutes all non drug cases under 50 federal statutes, including regulatory offences and economic crimes. Examples include offences under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Income Tax Act, the Competition Act, the Fisheries Act and the Canada Elections Act, as well as offences under the Customs Act, the Excise Act and the Excise Tax Act.
Specialized teams are dedicated to prosecutions where a specialized knowledge of legislation is required. By way of example, several PPSC offices have teams of prosecutors dedicated to economic crimes prosecutions, whereas the Atlantic Regional Office has a team of counsel devoted full time to regulatory prosecutions, with fisheries offences accounting for up to 75% of the workload.
The PPSC also provides advice on and prosecutes complex capital market fraud cases. PPSC legal advisors are part of the RCMP's Integrated Market Enforcement Teams (IMETs) that investigate suspected capital market fraud offences. Where provincial Attorneys General decline to prosecute, the PPSC may prosecute complex capital market fraud cases referred by the IMETs.
As well, a group of PPSC prosecutors provides services in highly specialized areas relating to offences under the Competition Act, the Textile Labelling Act, the Precious Metals Marking Act, and the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act. While criminal investigations under these statutes are the responsibility of the Commissioner of Competition, the PPSC provides advice on investigations to Competition Bureau officers. The offences that are most often prosecuted under these statutes are false or misleading representations, deceptive telemarketing, cartel offences, and bid-rigging.
Another key component of this program activity is Law Practice Management (LPM). The challenge for the PPSC will be to develop and implement an LPM vision and model that will meet its needs, while supporting the current organizational design and being responsive to financial challenges.
This program activity also includes the PPSC's Agent Affairs Program, established to enhance the quality of legal services provided by agents and to ensure cost-effective service delivery. It includes a centralized support unit at PPSC headquarters, namely the Agent Affairs Unit, and Agent Supervision Units located in each regional office, which are responsible for the day-to-day management of agents.
In addition, this activity encompasses the duties of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) Coordinator who is responsible for the coordination of all litigation work the PPSC conducts in the Supreme Court.
Under this program activity, the PPSC acts as co-chair of the Securities Fraud and Economic Crime Prosecutors Affiliation, a subcommittee of the FPT Heads of Prosecutions Committee. This subcommittee is tasked with developing an inter-jurisdictional network of prosecutors, improving the co-ordination of enforcement by developing best practices and implementing a seamless system for sharing prosecutorial expertise and education between jurisdictions for the investigation and prosecution of large economic crime cases.
The PPSC is also responsible for recovering, under provisions of the Criminal Code, outstanding fines related to various federal offences.
This program activity involved a work volume of approximately 7,812 litigation files in 2007-08, which represented about 12% of the PPSC's total number of files. The projected volume of files for 2008-09 is 8,565.
Planning Highlights for 2009-10
Within this activity, one of the priorities for 2009-10 will be to complete the implementation of the recommendations of the November 2007 report to the Commissioner of the RCMP on Enhancing Integrated Market Enforcement Teams, Achieving Results in Fighting Capital Markets Crime 6. This report set out a plan for improving the effectiveness of the IMETs, including approaches and use of resources relating to prosecutions. Of the five capital market crime prosecutions currently under way, the PPSC is prosecuting three and is jointly prosecuting two with provincial prosecutors.
A priority for 2009-10 will be to develop and partially implement a vision for Law Practice Management that will provide leadership on selected law practice activities such as revisions to the FPS Deskbook 7, legal risk management, knowledge management, legal training, and the management of the Fine Recovery Program.
As part of the LPM vision, the PPSC will again offer training through its School for Prosecutors. A needs assessment is under way to determine the enrolment capacity for the August 2009 session. In order to facilitate the sharing of training materials, the School is also developing a web-based repository of training materials, including training DVDs.
In addition, the PPSC will continue to work closely with federal-provincial-territorial heads of prosecution on issues and challenges of common interest in the areas of regulatory offences and economic crime. The Securities Fraud and Economic Crime Prosecutors Affiliation will be focusing on the training of prosecutors who handle capital market offences cases and the development of best practices in areas such as information sharing and immunity agreements. The PPSC will also continue to actively participate in symposia and conferences which focus on regulatory offences and economic crime prosecutions, and to host delegations interested in regulatory prosecutions.
The PPSC's Supreme Court of Canada Coordinator will prepare directives for federal prosecutors regarding litigation in the Supreme Court and templates for commonly used documents such as facta and memoranda of law.
Finally, the PPSC's Agent Affairs Program is preparing to implement 5-year fixed-term appointments within the agent community by staggering competitions over a maximum of 60 months. The goal is to make the agent appointment process more transparent and to ensure that all interested firms may apply. As there are currently some 210 standing agent firms across Canada, agents within a province will be divided into sub-regional groupings using judicial districts as a base. Each group will be notified of the date of termination of its existing appointments and the process that will be followed for the competitions. The grouping of agents by sub-regions allows for greater efficiencies in organizing interviews and scheduling training for new agents.
Benefits to Canadians
This program activity contributes to protecting the health, safety and general welfare of Canadians through the prosecution of offences under federal laws that regulate individual and corporate conduct. It also contributes to maintaining a secure, fair marketplace by enhancing compliance with and enforcement of marketplace rules and regulations.
6 The full report may be accessed at http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/imet-eipmf/report-rapport-lepan2007-eng.htm
7 The Federal Prosecution Service (FPS) Deskbook is a policy manual governing all PPSC staff prosecutors and legal agents.
2.3 Program Activity #3: Internal Services
Financial and Human Resource Requirements
| 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 | 2011-2012 |
|---|---|---|
| 28,165 | 20,519 | 20,035 |
| 2009-2010 | 2010-2011 | 2011-2012 |
|---|---|---|
| 154 | 160 | 158 |
Program Activity Summary and Planning Highlights
Internal Services comprise groups of related activities that are administered to support the needs of the above two program activities and other corporate obligations of the organization. The planning highlights of Internal Services include the following:
- Human Resources (HR) Management: The Human Resources Directorate will develop and implement an HR Management Strategy and Plan to improve human resources management practices. The Directorate will ensure that the organization's structure is well aligned with its vision, business needs, strategic direction and goals; that the work is
clearly defined; and that positions are properly classified.
- Management and Oversight Services: A committee has been struck to develop the organization's performance measurement framework, including the development of appropriate performance indicators, as well as to ensure internal systems can supply the required data to support the new indicators. This committee will continue its work in
2009-10.
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Accommodations, Security and Conflict Management: The PPSC's Administration Services will pursue the implementation of corporate support services for accommodations, security and conflict resolution. This will entail activities such as the following:
- working with PWGSC to establish independent facilities for several headquarters functions (Finance, HR, IM/IT), and regional offices (Toronto and Edmonton);
- consolidating offices to achieve economies of scale (Iqaluit and Whitehorse); and
- implementing full services for both Security and Conflict Management.
These Internal Services planning highlights also contribute to the management priorities presented earlier under Section I.
