ARCHIVED - Canadian International Trade Tribunal

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SECTION I—OVERVIEW

1.1 Chairperson’s Message

As recently appointed Chairperson of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal), I am pleased to present the Tribunal’s Departmental Performance Report for fiscal year 2007-2008.

The Tribunal’s priority remained the fair, timely and effective disposition of cases. As in previous years, the Tribunal issued all its decisions within the legislated deadlines and maintained its strong record in terms of its decisions being upheld by national and international appeal bodies, thereby continuing to play a key role in fostering a fair and secure marketplace for Canadians with regard to economic affairs.

The Tribunal was amongst the 17 organizations that participated in a Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) strategic review of its funding and relevance, and of the performance of its program spending to ensure results and value for money, which is a priority for Canadians. The Tribunal dedicated significant effort and resources to the strategic review, while, at the same time, ensuring that it continued to meet its overarching priority of issuing quality decisions within legislated timelines. The strategic review sparked the onset of a re-visioning and re-alignment of the Tribunal’s organizational structure as it began to adjust to a change in the number and mix of cases that is expected to continue in the years ahead. This transition, along with human resource pressures, impacted on the Tribunal’s ability to achieve certain on-time performance expectations and called for the re-assessment of a number of priorities identified in the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities.

The Tribunal completed a review of its operating and maintenance expenditures based on its Program Activity Architecture to strengthen the link between results and program spending. Work continued towards increasing the use of information technology to provide secure and efficient service delivery. There also continued to be a focus on learning and training for new and existing staff to ensure a more flexible and versatile workforce, thereby improving the Tribunal’s capacity to respond to changes in the mix and number of cases, while maintaining the Tribunal’s recognized expertise in its legislated field of activity.

In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my predecessor, Mr. Pierre Gosselin, and to acknowledge his invaluable contribution and 10 years of commitment to the Tribunal. I would also like to recognize the efforts of the Tribunal’s employees and thank each one of them for their continued support, dedication and hard work.

André F. Scott

1.2 Management Representation Statement

I submit, for tabling in Parliament, the 2007-2008 Departmental Performance Report for the Tribunal.

This document has been prepared based on the reporting principles contained in the Guide for the Preparation of Part III of the 2007-2008 Estimates: Reports on Plans and Priorities and Departmental Performance Reports.

• It adheres to the specific reporting requirements outlined in the Treasury Board Secretariat guidance;

• It is based on the Tribunal’s approved Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture that were approved by the Treasury Board;

• It presents consistent, comprehensive, balanced and reliable information;

• It provides a basis of accountability for the results achieved with the resources and authorities entrusted to it; and

• It reports finances based on approved numbers from the Estimates and the Public Accounts of Canada.

André F. Scott
Chairperson

1.3 Tribunal’s Mandate

The Tribunal is an administrative tribunal operating within Canada’s trade remedies system. It is an independent quasi-judicial body that carries out its legislated responsibilities in an autonomous and impartial manner and reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance.

The main legislation governing the Tribunal’s work is the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act (CITT Act), the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), the Customs Act, the Excise Tax Act, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Regulations (CITT Regulations), the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations (Regulations) and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules (Rules).

The Tribunal’s primary mandate is to:

• inquire into whether dumped or subsidized imports have caused, or are threatening to cause, injury to a domestic industry;

• inquire into complaints by potential suppliers concerning federal government procurement that is covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (AGP) and Canada’s own Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT);

• hear appeals from decisions of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) made under the Customs Act and SIMA or of the Minister of National Revenue under the Excise Tax Act;

• conduct safeguard inquiries with respect to increased imports from the People’s Republic of China (China);

• inquire into and provide advice on such economic, trade and tariff issues as are referred to the Tribunal by the Governor in Council or the Minister of Finance;

• investigate requests from Canadian producers for tariff relief on imported textile inputs used in production operations and to make recommendations to the Minister of Finance on the relative benefits to Canada of the requests; and

• inquire into complaints by domestic producers that increased imports from all sources are causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury to domestic producers.

1.4 Program Activity Architecture

1.5 Challenges and Risks

The Tribunal delivers essential trade adjudication services in an environment that is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. Specific challenges and risks faced by the Tribunal during fiscal year 2007-2008 included:

• Ensuring Information Technology (IT) Availability and Reliability

Ensuring access to reliable IT continued to be crucial for the Tribunal in maintaining the quality of its findings, determinations and recommendations within prescribed deadlines. The integrity of the network environment, including the security environment, is assessed on an ongoing basis to ensure that it meets organizational needs and that it continues to conform to government-wide policies and standards. Furthermore, access to ongoing resources that are required to maintain the IT architecture and to provide service improvements is an ongoing priority. Recommendations were addressed with respect to technical issues identified in a previously conducted IT architecture review, but additional work is still required to fully develop and implement an IT strategy.

• Maintaining Quality of Service and Meeting Legislated Timelines During Periods of Intense Workload

The Tribunal’s caseload is externally generated, and cases must be processed as received, within strict legislated deadlines. Unpredictable case demands and case bunching¹ can have a major impact on the Tribunal’s resources. In recent years, a number of external factors relating to general economic conditions, industrial restructuring, the international trade environment and government actions have impacted on the number and mix of cases before the Tribunal. The Tribunal has been addressing these challenges by transitioning to a new business model to better align resources with its caseload and by implementing changes in its organizational structure and the management of cases to improve operational efficiencies. The re-alignment of the Tribunal’s organizational structure, as it began to adjust to a change in the number and mix of cases that is expected to continue in the years ahead, along with staffing challenges, impacted on its ability to meet its legislated timelines and to manage workload.

• Knowledge Transfer

The Tribunal’s complex and unpredictable caseload requires a workforce with specialized skills, knowledge, flexibility and versatility. These qualities are usually acquired over a number of years. The challenge is to maintain continuity in the Tribunal’s institutional knowledge. In 2007-2008, the Tribunal saw a higher than anticipated rate of staff turnover, which impacted on its on-time performance expectations in certain areas of its mandate. This placed constant pressure on it to recruit, train, retain and renew its human resources.

To maintain its expertise, ensure a continuation of service and minimize the impact of staff turnover to the extent possible, staff was cross-trained to work in more than one mandate, thereby improving the Tribunal’s capacity to respond to changes in the mix and number of cases. Also, timely access to orientation and training programs was offered to expedite the transfer of knowledge to new employees.

• Maintaining Adequate Protection of Information in an Electronic Environment

Parties and their counsel expect that any confidential information that they file electronically or on paper will be adequately protected. The Tribunal continued to exercise extreme caution in the use and distribution of confidential information, given the serious and commercial harm that could be caused by inappropriate dissemination and use of such information. In responding to the demand for telework arrangements, new systems with up-to-date technology were implemented, providing staff with a secure network for remote access.

1.6 Summary Table

Reason for Existence The Tribunal adjudicates international trade disputes by applying legal rules designed to ensure that imports compete fairly in the domestic marketplace, that government procurement is fair and that tariffs and border excise taxes are fairly applied. At the request of the Government, it provides advice on trade, economic, commercial and tariff matters. As an informal “court”, the Tribunal is accessible to Canadian business and other parties and provides impartial and transparent decisions. It operates within strict deadlines to provide certainty in the marketplace.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
10,682	10,980	10,061

Human Resources

Planned	Actual	Difference
94	78	16

Priorities

Priority	Type	Performance Status
1. Process Cases Within Legislated Deadlines and Quality Standards	Ongoing	Successfully met
II. Sound Management Practices	Ongoing	Successfully met
III. Improve Service Delivery	Ongoing	Successfully met
IV. Invest in its People	Ongoing	Successfully met

Program Activities by Strategic Outcome ($ thousands)

Strategic Outcome: Fair, timely and effective disposition of international trade cases and government-mandated inquiries in various areas of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.
			2007-2008
Program Activity	Expected Result	Performance Status	Planned	Actual	Contributes to the Following Priority
Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)	Tribunal’s decisions and recommendations are fair and impartial and published in a timely way.	Successfully met	10,058	9,764	All priorities
General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)		Successfully met	624	297	All priorities

1.7 Summary of Tribunal’s Performance

The Tribunal’s overarching priority for achieving its single strategic outcome continued to be the processing of cases and making sound decisions on matters that fall within its jurisdiction within legislated deadlines. In doing so, the Tribunal strived to ensure that its decisions and recommendations were fair, timely and based on quality information, thus contributing to a fair and secure marketplace in Canada.

In 2007-2008, supporting priorities continued to reflect several government-wide initiatives to be incorporated into the Tribunal’s day-to-day management. These included the following program and management priorities: (1) sound management practices; (2) improved service delivery; and (3) investing in its people. The most significant initiative in connection with these supporting priorities was the Tribunal, led by TBS, participated in the strategic review of its spending to examine its effectiveness and opportunities for savings or reallocation.

1.7.1 Priority I: Process Cases Within Legislated Deadlines and Quality Standards

Last year, there was a change in the mix and number of cases. In particular, there was more activity in the Tribunal’s procurement mandate, and additional resources were allocated to this work. There was also an unexpected increase in activity under the standing textile reference from the Minister of Finance.

In response to a change in the number and mix of cases, the Tribunal implemented modifications to its organizational structure and to the management of cases to ensure that all cases followed a more standard and timely process.

Overall, the Tribunal issued all its decisions within legislated deadlines and maintained its strong record in terms of its decisions being upheld by national and international appeal bodies. Most of the priorities identified in the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities were met. However, a number of plans were postponed, and some priorities were re-assessed and replaced to better respond to a change in the number and mix of Tribunal cases anticipated for 2008-2009. The Tribunal also experienced significant staffing challenges which led, in some instances, to on-time performance that did not equal that of earlier years.

1.7.2 Priority II: Sound Management Practices

Strengthening its practices in several areas pertaining to management and accountability continued to be a priority in 2007-2008. Specific priorities included the following:

• Refining the Performance Reporting Framework

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal continued to refine its performance reporting framework and strengthen the link between results and program spending by aligning its framework with the common (government-wide) approach to collecting, managing and reporting both financial and non-financial performance information. The Tribunal developed a performance measurement framework, including a list of key performance indicators, to assess and report against its achievements towards intended results. An audit of the Tribunal’s financial management framework conducted in 2006-2007 contained several recommendations that are being implemented and will strengthen comptrollership and oversight.

• Integrated Business, Human Resources (HR) and IT Planning

The Tribunal improved its planning processes by integrating its ongoing HR, IT and business priorities. The 2007-2008 business planning exercise took into consideration recommendations with respect to technical issues from a previously conducted IT architecture review, a review of its HR function and an audit of its financial management framework in order to determine priority areas. HR plans were updated and aligned with overall business goals.

• Ensuring Compliance with Government Security Policy

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal continued to take the necessary steps to comply with the government-wide Management of Information Technology Security (MITS) standard. Many identified gaps were addressed to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to preserve the confidentiality and availability of electronic information.

The Tribunal also conducted several security awareness sessions to increase the level of awareness of employees concerning their day-to-day security responsibilities in the protection of sensitive information and assets.

Significant effort was dedicated towards the development of the Tribunal’s Business Continuity Plan (BCP). The initial phase, completed in 2007-2008, included a business impact analysis that addressed all of the Tribunal’s critical business functions and systems, as well as the development of a BCP governance policy. The BCP continues to be a priority for the Tribunal.

• Leveraging Shared Service Arrangements

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal continued to meet and work with the Small Agency Administrators’ Network to identify opportunities to improve the quality of internal services for managers and employees and to better support them in achieving their program goals. For example, the Tribunal participated throughout the year in a working group on reporting and accountability for small departments and agencies.

The Tribunal was also an active member of the HR co-op team, a voluntarily organized group of HR representatives from departments and agencies that share a similar mandate, set of competencies and HR challenges. For instance, in 2007-2008, the Tribunal worked collaboratively with the HR co-op team to secure funding to develop a learning management framework across small departments and agencies, completed a joint position classification review and organized a number of information sessions and workshops for staff.

• Strategic Review and Capacity Assessment

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal was amongst the 17 organizations that participated in strategic reviews led by TBS. The Tribunal took a comprehensive approach to the strategic review through an organization-wide capacity assessment that focused on value for money in carrying out its activities. As a result of this capacity assessment, the Tribunal identified savings through the better alignment of resources to projected future workloads, efficiency gains and not providing funding for certain types of cases, for example, occasional economic, trade, commercial or tariff references. The Tribunal began to adjust its organizational structure to a change in the number and mix of cases that is expected to continue in the years ahead. This transition, along with staffing pressures, impacted on the Tribunal’s ability to achieve certain on-time performance expectations and called for the re-assessment of a number of priorities identified in the 2007-2008 Report on Plans and Priorities.

• A-Base Review of Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Expenditures

To facilitate future financial planning and to increase the accuracy and credibility of the costing approach of its internal services, in 2007-2008, the Tribunal conducted a review of its O&M expenditures based on its Program Activity Architecture. As a result, base O&M budget requirements were identified for each branch for a five-year planning horizon.

1.7.3 Priority III: Improve Service Delivery

Continuous improvement in service delivery remained a priority in 2007-2008. The Tribunal focused on enhancing the use of IT to provide better, faster and more efficient service delivery both internally and to parties and their counsel. Below are a few key projects.

• Ensuring Optimum Performance of IT Architecture

Based on the results of an IT architecture review conducted in 2006-2007, the Tribunal implemented a number of service improvements to ensure that its existing IT architecture was keeping pace with its business needs, operating at optimum performance and conforming to government-wide policies and standards. For example, Web search capabilities were improved, and security performance was enhanced to ensure that the network environment continued to be secure and reliable for both in-house and remote users. Modifications continued to be made to conform to the new TBS Common Look and Feel Standard for the Internet; however, plans for restructuring the Tribunal’s intranet site were postponed due to competing priorities.

• Increased Use of Electronic Information

With a view to meeting the increased expectation across administrative tribunals for the electronic exchange of information and e-filing with parties, the Tribunal continued to fine tune the functionality and reliability of its Secure E-filing System and its ability to receive confidential information. It also continued to explore options to provide easier access and efficiencies that would enable interested parties to submit their completed case-related questionnaires online. These two initiatives were taken with a view to continuing along the path of eventually providing electronic access to counsel of all public and confidential case information. However, for the moment, as with most Tribunals where business confidential information is involved, the parties have so far, in the main, preferred to file paper documents.

While most information filed with the Tribunal is business-related, on occasion, individuals may file a complaint or application containing personal information. The Tribunal made improvements to its procedures in 2007-2008 to take into account such occasions and to ensure that personal information is properly protected in accordance with the legal and internal government requirements.

• Improved Internal Services

The Tribunal continued its efforts to implement the requirements of the TBS Policy on Information Management. In 2007-2008, the Tribunal initiated a project to implement a new records management system for corporate information that will include the management of corporate documents in both paper and electronic formats (excluding case files). Initial steps to developing a classification structure were completed, but further work is required in order to establish a common records classification structure.

• Audio System for Hearing Rooms

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal replaced the outdated audio equipment in its hearing rooms with more up-to-date technology that would increase reliability and minimize the risk of hearings being disrupted by audio system malfunctions. Additional functionalities were also added to optimize interactivity and increase the system’s adaptability and compatibility with systems utilized in courtrooms outside the Tribunal.

1.7.4 Priority IV: Invest in its people

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal gave priority to integrating the vision and intent of government-wide initiatives for HR modernization into its day-to-day operations. Specific supporting priorities included the following:

• Reinforcing a Values and Ethics Culture

The Tribunal recognizes values and ethics as one of the pillars of management accountability and is committed to fostering a respectful workplace through the prevention and prompt resolution of harassment and conflict.

Following consultations between Tribunal management, employees and union representatives, the Tribunal implemented an Informal Conflict Management System (ICMS), and senior ICMS officers were selected and trained. The program was introduced at the Tribunal’s annual retreat in October 2007, and an ICMS policy and guideline were published on the Tribunal’s intranet. Also, in the fall of 2007, through the Canada School of Public Service, the Tribunal arranged for a mandatory one-day in-house training session for all employees on the topic of creating a respectful workplace. The Tribunal also designated a values and ethics champion who provided training to raise the awareness of employees on that subject and to guide them in their day-to-day professional activities. Consultations were initiated with employees on a proposed new Policy on Internal Disclosure of Information Concerning Wrongdoing in the Workplace.

• Improving Recruitment and Retention

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal addressed concerns raised by employees in the 2005 Public Service Employee Survey, and training and developmental opportunities were offered.

• Implementing a Learning Strategy

In 2007-2008, the Tribunal secured funding, as a member of the HR co-op team, through the Public Service Modernization Act Strategic Investment Framework (SIF) fund to develop and implement a collaborative learning management framework across small departments and agencies to address common learning and knowledge management needs. An internal learning policy will be developed once the collaborative learning management framework is in place.

To ensure the continual transfer of institutional knowledge and values to new staff, the Tribunal continued to develop and deliver in-house training seminars and programs, a virtual library of in-house training seminars and other training materials.

With the changes made to its organizational structure, management and staff are required to work in more than one area of the Tribunal’s mandate and must respond effectively to fluctuations in the timing, number and mix of cases. Tribunal staff are being cross-trained, allowing them to move seamlessly between the Tribunal’s different activities.

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