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Table 8: Responses to Parliamentary Committees, External Audits and the Auditor General

Table 8.1: Responses to Parliamentary Committees

This table lists responses to parliamentary committees made by DFAIT pertaining to 2007-08.

1. House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development:

   1. Report 1-Report on Afghanistan presented to the House during the 2nd Session of the 39th Parliament (adopted by the Committee on February 10, 2009; presented to the House on February 26, 2009)
      
      Government Response: A response is being prepared by DFAIT. A response is required before June 26, 2009.

   2. Report 5-Review of Key Elements of Canadian Foreign Policy (adopted by the Committee on May 11, 2009; presented to the House on May 14, 2009)
      
      Government Response: A response is being prepared by DFAIT. A response is required before September 11, 2009.

2. Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights:

   1. Interim Report-Canada and the United Nations Human Rights Council: At the Crossroads (interim report "to examine and monitor issues relating to human rights and, inter alia, to review the machinery of government dealing with Canada's international and national human rights obligations")
      
      Government Response: Twelfth Report of the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, "Canada and the United Nations Human Rights Council: At the Crossroads" (presented to the Senate on November 14, 2007).

3. Standing Committee on International Trade:

   1. Report 3-A Study of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Negotiations (adopted by the Committee on March 3, 2008; presented to the House on March 11, 2008)
      
      Government Response: Third Report of the Standing Committee on International Trade, "A Study of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Negotiations" (presented to the House on August 20, 2008)

Table 8.2: External Audits

Note: These refer to other external audits conducted by the Public Service Commission of Canada or the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

None were conducted during the 2007-08 fiscal period.

Table 8.3: Responses to the Auditor General including to the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD)

1. Management of Fees in Selected Departments and Agencies-May 2008 OAG Report

   The Office of the Auditor General (OAG) looked at how the department establishes fees for consular services and determines the amount to be charged; they also looked at how the department measures, monitors and reports on the performance of fee-related activities.

   The OAG concluded that Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada was allocating costs to the consular services fee beyond those included in the cost allocations supporting the original approval of the fee. After applying a methodology consistent with the original fee approval, the OAG identified a trend of surpluses. In their view, the department is at risk of appearing not to have determined the amount to be charged for the fee in a way that is consistent with a view to cost recovery, as its legislative framework requires.

   The OAG recommended that DFAIT review its time-reporting practices and the allocation of costs and activities to the consular services fee to ensure that DFAIT remains consistent with the authorization for the fee and excludes the costs of services on behalf of other departments and agencies that are not part of the consular services fee. It also recommended that the department then amend its reporting to Parliament, as appropriate, and take any necessary action to adjust the fee in view of the trend of surpluses.

   The department agreed that the costing methodology for the consular services fee needs to be reviewed but noted that cumulatively over the past five years, including the costs of the Lebanon evacuation in 2006-07, there is a modest deficit from the consular services fee. Full details of the management responses can be found in the 2008 May Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Chapter 1: Management of Fees in Selected Departments and Agencies (www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_200805_01_e_30697.html).

2. Management Tools and Government Commitments-International Environmental Agreements-March 2008 CESD Report

   Canada has signed more than 100 international environmental agreements over the years, the Kyoto Protocol among them, committing it to act on crucial issues such as ocean pollution, fishery conservation and the protection of endangered species.

   In 2004, the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) reported that lead departments for the agreements they looked at had varying degrees of knowledge about whether they were achieving the objectives of the agreements. Some departments did not always know the environmental results they were achieving under the agreements or, in some cases, the results they were supposed to achieve. Nor were all the departments reporting on the results they had achieved.

   CESD's March 2008 status report examined the federal government's management of information on international environmental agreements to assess the progress it had made since 2004. They examined 20 international environmental agreements in four departments, including DFAIT. CESD assessed whether enough information is available for parliamentarians and other interested Canadians to judge whether Canada is meeting its environmental commitments to the international community. In this audit, CESD found that although the department has not maintained the comprehensive database, it is currently updating its treaty database (a listing that focuses on the formal aspects of all treaties Canada has signed, such as the in-force date, signatories and parties, and treaty text). Although the database stores information on the lead negotiating departments involved, this information is not publicly available. DFAIT noted that the treaty database contains less publicly available information than the international environmental agreement database that the department created in 1998. The existing system requires users to contact the department for this type of information.

   CESD concurred that, although Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada has not maintained the comprehensive international environmental agreements database, they were satisfied that the treaty database includes enough information on international environmental agreements to enable Canadians to make further searches.

   DFAIT responses can be found in the 2008 March Status Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Chapter 8: Management Tools and Government Commitments-International Environmental Agreements (www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_cesd_200803_08_e_30134.html).

3. Human Resource Management-May 2007 OAG Report

   The OAG examined whether the department plans for and manages its human resources in a way that ensures that it has the people with the right skills and competencies to carry out its mandate. The OAG concluded that the department does not have a comprehensive human resources plan and does not have the information it needs to identify the staffing levels, competencies and experience it requires now and into the future.

   As a result of a lack of human resources planning, management of the workforce suffers from many deficiencies that put the attainment of departmental objectives at risk. Recruitment and promotion processes do not ensure that position requirements, in terms of numbers of vacancies filled or skills capacity, are met on a timely basis. Assignments to rotational positions result in a high number of people whose classification levels do not match the job requirements. The department is also not paying enough attention to the management of locally engaged staff. In addition, there is little flexibility to compensate and provide incentives to staff for the hardship and cost of living of working in foreign missions.

   DFAIT has begun to develop a planning process for its human resources that can support its long-term management needs. It has a number of good practices to build on, but a sustained effort is required to bring modern human resources planning and management into its culture. Proper human resources planning would contribute to closing the staffing gaps and responding to the department's immediate and longer-term needs.

   DFAIT and the Treasury Board Secretariat agreed with the OAG's observations and recommendations. Details of their responses can be found in the 2007 May Report of the Auditor General of Canada, Chapter 3-Human Resources Management-Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_oag_200705_03_e_17478.html).

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