Treasury Board Secretariat has two basic roles. The first involves provision of support for Treasury Board. The Secretariat’s other major function is as the central agency responsible for the general management of the Public Service of Canada.

In its support role for Treasury Board, the Secretariat recommends and provides advice on policies, directives, regulations, and program expenditure proposals with respect to the management of the government’s financial, human, and material resources. Its responsibilities for initiatives, issues and activities cut across all policy sectors managed by 22 operating departments and some 100 other organizational entities (as reported in the Main Estimates). The Secretariat is also responsible for the comptroller function of government.

Under the broad authority of sections 5 to 13 of the Financial Administration Act, the Secretariat supports the Treasury Board in its role as the general manager and employer of the Public Service. The main areas of activity in the central administration of the Public Service cover the following:

• Expenditure management: providing leadership, direction and advice to departments and agencies on expenditure management, regulatory affairs, and property and material management through the development of appropriate policies to support efficient and effective program delivery;
  
  
• Personnel management: developing, communicating and evaluating human resources, official languages and employment equity policies and instruments that help departments manage human resources and that promote effective employer-employee relations in the Public Service; and
  
  
• Financial and information management: providing leadership to departments through policies, frameworks of accountability, standards and the promotion of best management practices in the use of technology and information management, business process renewal, effective review, and sound financial and contracting management so that departments may provide innovative and affordable services to their clients.

Treasury Board policies apply to all officers of Parliament in much the same way that they apply to entities listed under schedule I.1 of the Financial Administration Act. These entities, which also include the Public Service Commission and the Privy Council Office, must operate in accordance with applicable Treasury Board policies and guidelines.

There is, however, some suggestion that Treasury Board Secretariat monitors the officers’ adherence to its policies less rigorously than other departments out of a desire to give them the maximum autonomy possible. As the Auditor General reports,

Central agencies have taken a lesser role in overseeing servants of Parliament, who are accorded more independence from the executive branch of government as they carry out their work for Parliament.

However, Mrs. Fraser adds that:

Nevertheless, if central agencies become aware of wrongdoing by parliamentary officers, they are obliged to take corrective action.

The Auditor General reports that the Treasury Board Secretariat (along with the Public Service Commission) did not make use of available oversight mechanisms to prevent the financial and human resources abuses that took place at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, or deal with them when they occurred. (Paragraph 5) The Audit found “an environment of fear and arbitrariness” at the OPC that led to “a major breakdown” in controls over financial management, human resources management, contracting, and travel and hospitality (Paragraph 2), all areas in which Treasury Board Secretariat has significant, government-wide responsibilities.

In 1997, Treasury Board and the Treasury Board Secretariat were designated as the management board of government, and thus acting as the “Employer” of the Public Service and ensuring that Canadians “are served by an effective, talented, and professional Public Service ¹².

While the Public Service Commission is responsible for recruitment in the Public Service, Treasury Board Secretariat had central agency responsibility for overall terms of employment within the service. In its plans and priorities report for 2003-2004, the Secretariat indicated that it was focusing its efforts on two areas: building and maintaining an effective workforce and “creating a healthy and enabling workplace that will allow the Government to attract, support, and retain a quality workforce ¹³. The Secretariat’s total planned expenditure on human resources management for 2003-2004 was $1.5 billion. In that fiscal year, TBS planned to assign 448 of its employees to this aspect of its work.

The audit found that at the OPC, under the former Commissioner:

• Rules intended to promote fairness and transparency in the treatment of employees, including rules governing promotion, job classification, labour relations, and performance awards, were broken. (Paragraphs 21, 22);
  
  
• Reclassification practices contributed to higher salary costs and a resulting overspending of the OPC’s appropriated funding. (Paragraph 45);
  
  
• Contrary to Treasury Board policies, executives received annual salary increases and performance awards without documented justification (paragraphs 60, 61) and performance awards exceeded guidelines (paragraph 62);
  
  
• There were no performance appraisals for any staff below the executive level (paragraph 63); and
  
  
• Failure to follow established policies resulted in “unjustified” increases in executive remuneration, amounting to “over a quarter of a million dollars.” (Paragraph 64)