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Section II – Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome
Strategic Outcome #1 - Process Cases
Program Activity: Process Cases
| 2008-09 Financial Resources ($ thousands) |
2008-09 Human Resources (FTEs) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planned Spending |
Total Authorities |
Actual Spending |
Planned | Actual | Difference |
| $1,328 | $1,628 | $1,233 | 9 FTEs | 6.75 FTEs | 2.25 FTEs |
| Expected Results |
Performance Indicators |
Targets | Performance Status |
Performance Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-quality Registry services providing the public efficient access to case records and decisions. | Case documents and decisions posted on website. | 90% of case documents and decisions posted on the website within 48 hours of filing. | Met all | Most documents (75%) are posted on the website within 24 hours of filing and 90% of them were posted within the 48-hour target. |
| Efficient case processing and hearing services. |
Documents processed within established timeframes.
Percentage increase in use of electronic hearings. |
100% of case documents processed within established timeframes.
25% increase in the use of the electronic hearing system |
Mostly met |
The training provided to Registry staff contributed to expedite the processing of documents.
The types of cases heard by the Tribunal were not cases that could have efficiently been processed electronically. Future hearings will proceed electronically unless directed otherwise by the Tribunal. |
Program Activity: Internal Services
| 2008-09 Financial Resources ($ thousands) |
2008-09 Human Resources (FTEs) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planned Spending |
Total Authorities |
Actual Spending |
Planned | Actual | Difference |
| $371 | $479 | $470 | 5 FTEs | 3.75 FTEs | 1.25 FTEs |
As a micro-agency, the Registry of the Competition Tribunal can offer only limited development opportunities within its organization and so has experienced a high turnover in recent years. The small size of the organization combined with its fluctuating workload causes challenges atypical of large organizations. To maintain an optimum level of service, the Registry must contract out many services, such as staffing, compensation and financial systems, from large organizations. The Registry implemented long-term asset replacement plan to ensure it continues to have the infrastructure it needs to support the work of the Tribunal as expeditiously as possible. A number of internal policies were updated in line with changes resulting from Treasury Board’s work to reduce the web of rules.
Benefits for Canadians
By supporting the Tribunal in its conduct of open, fair, transparent and expeditious hearings, the Registry of the Competition Tribunal contributes to the Government of Canada outcome area of a fair and secure marketplace. Conducting proceedings in a timely manner is key to Canadian businesses to stay competitive. The outcomes of Tribunal proceedings may be felt by all Canadians because the decisions help promote the efficiency and adaptability of the Canadian economy on issues related to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.
Performance Analysis
Program Activity: Process Cases
The Registry of the Competition Tribunal does not have control over the number of proceedings filed. It can only react to the number of applications filed by the parties. There was a small increase in the number of filings in 2008–09 compared with 2007–08 but overall there were no major fluctuations between the two years. One proceeding was ongoing at the end of this fiscal year that will be completed in 2009–10.Number of Proceedings
| 2007–08 | 2008–09 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of proceedings filed | 8 | 11 |
| Number of proceedings completed | 10 | 12 |
| Number of proceedings filed from previous year and still ongoing | 4 | 1 |
| Number of decisions rendered | 28 | 32 |
The new Rules of Procedure decrease the paper burden of parties appearing before the Tribunal.
Program activity: Internal services
The turnover rate of employees was lower than last year, providing for better continuity and enabling the organization to update some of its policies and procedures, as well as allowing the allocation of more resources toward employee development. Learning plans were developed for every employee and financial resources were committed to support the developmental objectives of all staff.
The Corporate Risk profile of the organization was reviewed and updated and strategies to mitigate risk were developed.
Lessons Learned
The number of documents filed through our website-based e-filing system has decreased slightly. The e-filing system is working properly but the parties seem to prefer to communicate with the Registry by regular email when security and size limitations permit. Additional work will have to be done to ensure the parties are aware of the additional security provided by the e-filing system, as well as the system’s capacity to handle much larger documents than can be submitted by email.
The Registry of the Competition Tribunal web survey shows that most of the users visit the website to perform searches on case documents. This finding indicates the increasing importance for the Registry to post case documents on the website in a timely manner.
