HUMA Committee Report
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The Auditor General of Canada told the Committee that in 1998-99, government-wide discretionary program spending amounted to about $17 billion, of which approximately 17% was delivered by HRDC. This Department works with thousands of partner organizations, commonly referred to as third-parties, to deliver programs for Canadians using these funds. Staff in local Human Resource Centres of Canada or regional offices administer programs that account for roughly 90% of HRDC's grant and contribution spending — taking into account funding that is provided under agreements between the federal and provincial/territorial governments and labour market programs. The remaining 10% of the funding is delivered through projects administered by national headquarters, the majority of which involves partnerships with national organizations. During her appearance, the Minister of HRDC told the Committee that third-party delivery agents vary from program to program and client group to client group:
If we’re talking about the Transitional Jobs Fund, those [delivery agents] tend to be partnerships with community partners and the private sector. If we’re talking about youth services, they may be monies that go to individuals or to programs that support youth at risk, that sort of thing — so community organizations that are engaged in supporting youth at risk. If we’re talking about Canadians with disabilities, it can be to disability agencies and organizations or to community groups that are helping to improve literacy in their communities. So it’s educational institutions — colleges, universities — it’s not-for-profit organizations, community by community, it's private sector small and medium-sized businesses in some regards, and it’s to individuals.
The Committee is fully cognizant of HRDC’s size, diversity and complexity. We also know that given its organizational structure, HRDC relies heavily on decentralized decision making to deliver programs that, by design, provide its managers at different levels with a great deal of discretion to make decisions. The Committee agrees fully with the Auditor General when he said that "…[i]n such a decentralized system, it is essential to have in place a sound control framework, appropriate procedures to ensure it is applied, and clear accountability for the exercise of this discretion." The Committee agrees with the Auditor General of Canada and points to the Treasury Board guidelines as the basis for action and encourages HRDC management to pursue rigorously the plan that it has put in place to correct these serious problems.