Fall, 1999

The Board of Governors of CCAF has approved the launch of a major program of research, capacity development and knowledge-sharing in order to help governments and other public sector institutions advance public performance reporting and get full value from their investments in accountability reporting.

Through both legislation and administrative decisions, many governments and other public sector institutions have made and are making important commitments and investments to advance the quality of the performance information they provide to citizens, service users and taxpayers. Those who are taking action in this area face considerable uncertainties and difficulties as they move into non-traditional reporting patterns and approaches. Some parts of the public sector are either better positioned or more advanced than others in this work – progress has not been uniform throughout nor is it likely to be so in future.

Some of the substantive challenges faced by those who measure, manage, report or audit performance have to do with finding common ground - among themselves and with users - on what results should be reported publicly and how best they can be gauged, reported, or audited.

Another important set of challenges relate to human and behavioral factors that influence both what is judged to be reasonable and appropriate publicly reported performance information, and how such information is subsequently used. Incentives, values, citizen expectations, trust, and understanding of, and tolerance for, risks are some of many such issues that provide the human context for public performance reporting and profoundly influence its quality and value. These factors, their effects, and the need for strategies to respond appropriately to them have been long-acknowledged, but little addressed.

Changes in the technology used to process and communicate information, and the impact of the media and special interest groups, present yet other difficulties and opportunities for public performance reporting.

In recognition of the above challenges, and believing that meaningful accountability for performance and public confidence are closely bound together, CCAF’s Board of Governors has authorized a three to five year program of research and development to help members of public sector governing bodies, their management and executive teams, information professionals of all disciplines, and auditors to make individual and collective progress in all of the above areas. Through research, knowledge-sharing, and capacity development, the program will seek to help them individually and collectively to identify, learn from, and expand the base of good public performance reporting.

In launching this program, CCAF’s Board does so with a sense of confidence about what can be accomplished both as a result of CCAF’s own record of past achievement and investment in this area, and as a result of the accomplishments of others.

Different aspects of public performance reporting and auditing will be progressively addressed during the life of the program. As progress is made, a variety of outputs – including publications, and capacity development and knowledge-sharing activities – will be undertaken as part of the program.

The program will seek out creative, practical and effective solutions to meet current and future challenges. It will seek to foster a better understanding of what is judged reasonable at different points in time and under different circumstances. It will seek to consult widely among key groups.

CCAF’s Board is strongly committed to this important program and recognizes that the challenge to mount an effective program in this area is commensurate with the human, technical and judgmental challenges cited above. To ensure that the program is meaningful and successful, the Board of Governors has appointed an Advisory Group from among its members to provide counsel to the full Board and to management, and to help engage a wide variety of interested and affected parties.

Board of Governors Advisory Group

The Board of Governors’ Advisory Group for this program reflects the Board’s ongoing interest in and commitment to the success of the program. It will provide strategic and policy advice in relation to the program as a whole and on key projects, and its members will help the program to access leaders from a wide range of constituencies that have a stake in the issues and outcomes of the program.

The Advisory Group brings to the program a range of perspectives and experience in:

• governance in the public and private sectors;
• public sector executive management;
• the development and implementation of public performance reporting approaches;
• legislative auditing; and,
• advisory services and consultation on public performance reporting.

The members of the Advisory Group are:

L. Denis Desautels, Auditor General of Canada

Joan Green, Chief Executive Officer, Education Quality and Accountability Office, Province of Ontario

V. Peter Harder, Secretary of the Treasury Board and Comptroller General of Canada

Paul Labbé, Chairman, Citibank Canada

Robert Lord, Vice-Chairman, Ernst & Young

George Morfitt, Auditor General of British Columbia

L. Denis Desautels Auditor General of Canada

Denis Desautels, FCA, was appointed Auditor General of Canada in 1991. At the time of his appointment he was a senior partner in the Montreal office of Ernst & Young and Regional Director of Consulting Services for the Province of Québec and the National Capital Region. He has served as Chairman of the Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Board of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, Chairman of the Advisory Committee to the Accounting Chair of the École des Hautes Études Commerciales (Montreal) and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the École Nationale d’administration publique (Québec).

Joan Green Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Education Quality and Accountability Office

As Chief Executive Officer of the Education Quality and Accountability Office in Ontario, Joan Green heads a provincial agency charged with improving the quality of and confidence in publicly funded education in that province. Prior to her appointment in 1995, she was Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Board of Education for 5 years and served the Board in a number of supervisory positions. Ms. Green is the current President of the Canadian Education Association and a member of the Advisory Board to Women in Capital Markets. She has been an executive member of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto and has served as a member of the Board and as Chair of the Quality Committee of the Rehabilitation Institute of Toronto. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and undertakes various leadership activities in education throughout the province and across the country.

V. Peter Harder Secretary of the Treasury Board and Comptroller General of Canada

Prior to being appointed Secretary of the Treasury Board of Canada and Comptroller General of Canada, Peter Harder was Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Deputy Solicitor General, Associate Deputy Minister (Immigration), and Executive Director of the Immigration and Refugee Board. He is currently spearheading efforts to modernize comptrollership in the federal government in the wake of the report of an Independent Panel on Modernization of Comptrollership in the Government of Canada.

Paul Labbé Chairman, Citibank Canada

As Chairman of Citibank Canada Paul Labbé is responsible for Citibank’s corporate banking activities throughout Canada and additionally serves as the senior officer in Canada for the Corporation. Prior to this, he was President & Chief Executive Officer of the Export Development Corporation for six years. He served as Commissioner of the Foreign Investments Review Agency, and, with the passage and promulgation of the Investment Canada Act in 1985, as President of Investment Canada. He has also served as President of the Canadian Industrial Renewal Board, Executive Assistant to the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Commerce, and Commercial Secretary at the Canadian Embassy in Paris.

Robert Lord Vice-Chairman, Professional Services, Ernst & Young

Robert Lord, FCA, has held a number of senior positions during his long career with Ernst & Young, and has been active in the profession for many years, serving on committees of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants of Canada (CICA) and the Ontario and Alberta Institutes of Chartered Accountants. He was Chairman of the CICA’s recent Task Force on Standard Setting. In 1995 he served as a member of the Ontario Financial Review Commission. Mr. Lord has served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Alberta Hospitals Foundation and as a Director and Vice-President of the Canadian Opera Company.

George Morfitt Auditor General of British Columbia

George Morfitt, FCA, was Executive Vice-President & CFO of the Diamond Group of Companies in Vancouver for 20 years before becoming Auditor General of British Columbia in 1988. He has served as President of the B.C. Institute of Chartered Accountants, Governor of the B.C. School of Chartered Accountancy, Governor of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and Chair of the Institute’s Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Board, Chair of the Universities Council of B.C., and Chair of the Board of Governors of the University of British Columbia. To provide coordination between CCAF’s Public Performance Reporting Program and the ongoing work of a performance reporting and auditing study group of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors, the Advisory Group has invited the participation of the study group chairman in the Group’s meetings.

Ken Hoffman Chairman, Performance Reporting and Auditing Study Group of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors

Ken Hoffman, CA, has worked in the Office of the Auditor General of Alberta since 1969. He is an Assistant Auditor General. He has more than 30 years of direct audit experience in the Alberta public sector. He currently spearheads the Office’s support for improved accountability and performance reporting. Ken has represented the Office of the Auditor General of Alberta on a number of national and provincial committees, including the Alberta Treasury Board Task Force on Measuring Up, the Advisory Board for the University of Alberta’s Centre for Performance Management and Measurement and the Alberta Government Financial Statement Steering Committee.

CCAF Secretariat

W. David Moynagh, M.A. (Sociology)
Director of Research, CCAF

Because of the importance of the program, it is expected that CCAF’s Director of Research, David Moynagh, will devote a significant part of his time to the leadership and conduct of the program. David initially came to the CCAF in 1990 under the Interchange Canada program and the Board of Governors appointed him CCAF’s first permanent Director of Research in 1995. David has been involved in the development of a wide variety of CCAF publications and educational products. Before joining CCAF, David’s career embraced almost 20 years of professional and management experience in service delivery, departmental headquarters and central agency positions in the government of Canada.

Michael Weir, CA
Research Associate, CCAF

To provide additional capacity, commensurate with the expected demands of the program, CCAF has secured, through secondment from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, the services of Michael Weir as a Research Associate with principal responsibilities in relation to the program. Michael served as Secretary to the Independent Panel on the Modernization of Comptrollership in the Government of Canada, and subsequently helped launch the implementation of the Panel’s recommendations. A Principal with the Office of the Auditor General, he previously served as CCAF Director of Research in 1985-87. He was a partner in a national firm of chartered accountants from 1980 to 1984.

Design and Conduct of the Public Performance Reporting Program

This program is expected to have a life cycle of from three to five years, with several phases. It contemplates a number of separate projects – some of which are already under way – to address the broad range of issues involved. It is expected that each project will deliver its own outputs, and build on the deliverables of those projects that have preceded it.

“Public performance reporting” embraces a wide range of issues. These range from the very nature of public sector performance, through to the way that people and information about performance interact. Along the way are issues of measurement, processing, interpretation, validation, transmission and communication. The impact of technology, the choice of reporting vehicles and the role of intermediaries – such as media, representational groups and commentators – introduce further issues.

The Board of Governors’ Advisory Group considers the following questions as driving factors in determining the focus both for the program as a whole, and for its individual projects:

1. What meaningful and agreed principles can be used to guide progress and promote good practice in public reporting on performance?

• To what extent does an agreed intellectual & practical basis currently exist to support progress and establish congruence among the key parties*?
• Do key parties understand good emerging practice?

* Note: For the purposes of the program, key parties to public performance reporting include: members of governing bodies; management; policy analysts and strategic planning staff; information preparers and measurement professionals; auditors; and, members of the media and publics.

2. To what extent do those who are involved in the art and science of public reporting on performance have a common and shared understanding of the vocabulary of public performance reporting?

• Do key parties have a basis for effective communication and concerted action?

3. To what extent is there sufficient understanding of, and capacity to manage, human factors* that significantly influence requirements for public reporting on performance and the type and quality of reporting that takes place?

• Is sufficient emphasis placed by key parties on these factors? Is there an appropriate balance between human and other more technical factors in determining what constitutes reasonable expectations for public reporting of performance?

~ Are there opportunities and practical approaches to advance practices in this area and, if so, to what extent?

~ What are the implications for public performance reporting of making (or not making) advances in respect of human factors?

* Note: Human factors include, for example: incentives & disincentives; organizational arrangements; values and ethics; leadership; and perceptions of risks and risk tolerance.

4. To what extent is there a shared and appropriate understanding among key parties of what constitutes reasonable achievement and progress in public performance reporting, at different points in time and under different circumstances?

• Is there a continuum of public performance reporting achievements and progress, and do we understand the circumstances or factors that influence an organization’s position on that continuum?
• Can we develop consensus regarding reasonable expectations under given circumstances (particularly those that are influenced primarily by governing bodies and external groups such as the media)?
• Can we agree how to gauge progress and achievement in the future?

5. As to the use of publicly reported performance information, is there sufficient understanding of lessons-learned and demonstration of best practices, and how such practices result in added value to public administration and contribute to a healthy reporting environment?

• What is reasonable, where are we now, and what can be done in future?

6. What are the implications of advances in public performance reporting on audit and assurance approaches and practices?

• Are there emerging or new “good practices” in this area?
• What practical approaches might be adopted to respond to the professional challenges associated with providing assurance?

Focus of the Program

In the initial thinking underlying CCAF’s Public Performance Reporting Program, it was recognized that it would not be possible, nor even desirable, to address simultaneously all aspects of all issues in all parts of the public sector. Accordingly, the initial phase will focus on key questions in the context of the federal and provincial levels of government. Subsequent phases will broaden this focus to other key areas in the public sector.

Relationships

CCAF recognizes the interests and actions of other organizations who have contributed to the evolution of public performance reporting and also that other organizations and individuals share its interest in continuing and accelerating that evolution. CCAF will therefore design and conduct the program in a manner that takes account of these past and ongoing contributions and that takes advantage of the potential for implementing specific parts of the program through strategic partnerships with other individuals, organizations or groups. Such groups range from the Performance Reporting and Auditing Study Group of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors through to Canada’s professional accounting firms.

Consultation - building common ground

Public reporting on performance engages the interests of the governance, management and audit communities. Accordingly, the program will seek common ground to help all these stakeholders construct the way forward, anticipating and managing critical issues and developing their capacity to make progress in this area.

The conduct of the program will seek the direct participation of governing body members, managers, measurement and reporting professionals, and auditors. Their participation will help the program deliver truly practical outputs. And it will give those who will be most directly affected by advances in public performance reporting a hand in making it all happen.

For further information on CCAF’s Public Reporting Program, contact:

David Moynagh
Director of Research, CCAF
dmoynagh@ccaf-fcvi.com

or

Michael Weir
Research Associate, CCAF
mweir@ccaf-fcvi.com

at

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