Moving Forward

Building on the successes of the past and learning from other legislative administrations in Canada and abroad, we are pleased to introduce a new approach to strategic management that will align corporate planning and reporting with the parliamentary cycle.  This approach will feature two new documents:  a Strategic Outlook and an Annual Report.

The Strategic Outlook articulates how the Administration proposes to respond to the 38th Parliament:  identifying four strategic objectives and the major initiatives on which it will focus to achieve them.  These objectives, set only after we assessed the factors that shape our current operating environment, are informed by our vision of the work we do, the values we hold dear and our mandate to support the House of Commons and its Members.  The initiatives will be carried out at the House of Commons with the approval of the Board of Internal Economy and the Speaker, by the staff of the five service areas of which the Administration is composed.

The Strategic Outlook retains what has served us well in the past and refines it to reflect the parliamentary reality, the better to meet the House's future needs.  Thus, we have maintained the concept of Members' four lines of business, that is, the Constituency, Committees, the Chamber and Caucus, and our overarching responsibility to sustain the institution of Parliament.  However, rather than setting priorities and making plans on a yearly basis, we are setting broad strategic objectives for a Parliament and identifying umbrella initiatives that will address those objectives.  The projects and programmes needed to undertake those initiatives will be presented to the Board of Internal Economy in due course.

Each year of a Parliament, an Annual Report will be produced to chart progress made towards the Administration's objectives during that year.  It will account for the resources used to support the work of Members and to sustain the House of Commons as an institution.  The emphasis will be on Members' parliamentary activities, with the programmes and projects that support those activities – the work of the Administration – as the underpinning of the House of Commons.

In the last ten years, the Administration has established the flexible infrastructure and multidisciplinary workforce it needs to serve a diverse clientele in a changing environment.  With its increased institutional agility, and this new Outlook as the touchstone for strategic planning, it is ready to respond to ever-changing needs of the Members of the 38th Parliament.