Working Together: A Government of Canada/Voluntary Sector Joint Initiative - Report of the Joint Tables

Executive Summary

Canada's voluntary sector plays a crucial and complex role in our society, including making Canada a more humane, caring and prosperous nation. The sector is also enormously broad and diverse. And its unique contributions ­ both at home and abroad ­ afford it singular knowledge and expertise. The voluntary sector is a vital pillar in our society, as are the public and private sectors.

The federal government and the voluntary sector share a long history of joining forces to achieve mutual goals. In recent years, several factors ­ for example, changing government roles, increasingly diverse populations, and new social and economic realities ­ have prompted the government and the sector to seek new ways to work together to better serve Canadians. The purpose of this collaboration is to strengthen the ability of both the government and the sector to achieve their common goal of enhancing the quality of life for Canadians.

In the spring of 1999, the federal government and the voluntary sector launched a joint initiative to forge a more effective, strategic relationship to better serve Canadians. Joint Tables, composed of government officials and sector leaders, conducted exploratory talks in three key areas: building a new relationship, strengthening capacity, and improving the regulatory framework. They started their work in April 1999 and continued through June.

This report represents the culmination of the Joint Table process. The report's purpose is to inform readers about the discussions and options put forward by Table participants to the Government of Canada and the voluntary sector.

Building a New Relationship

The Building a New Relationship Table examined both positive and negative experiences in the relationships between the government and voluntary sector. The Table also articulated the fundamental elements of an improved and strengthened relationship. These elements include a shared vision, principles to guide the relationship as it develops, and a delineation of the respective government/sector roles in working together.

The proposed principles touch on five areas: interdependence and cooperation, the voluntary sector's unique role, dialogue, collaboration, and public accountability.

Table members identified five conditions as essential to supporting and nurturing the evolving relationship: a space for ongoing dialogue; commitment to nurture and broaden the relationship; a focus on tangible results for the benefit of Canadians; capacity support and an appropriate regulatory framework; and accountability and regular reporting to Canadians.

The Building a New Relationship chapter puts forward several options to help maintain and strengthen the relationship and encourage it to flourish. Since the purpose of the new relationship is to strengthen existing government/sector interactions, mechanisms are needed that will allow the overall relationship to be handled more strategically, address cross-cutting issues and encourage discussion about the relationship's long-term direction. This can best be achieved by adopting an evolutionary approach. The following options, therefore, cover a range of time frames, and are designed to complement each other. As well, they are meant to support the ongoing endeavours that individual departments and specific voluntary sector organizations are pursuing to evolve their existing relationships.

Options for an Evolving Relationship

• an accord between the government and sector to guide the evolving relationship
• a means by which the sector could orchestrate its various voices
• assigning responsibility for the development of the relationship at the ministerial level
• creation of a small secretariat to continue the work of the Privy Council Office's Voluntary Sector Task Force
• establishment of a joint Implementation Group to provide direction during the research and consultative stages, and to conduct other duties
• formation of a permanent organization to nurture the relationship
• periodic meetings between Cabinet Ministers and leaders of the voluntary sector
• an Annual Report to Parliament
• improved funding and regulatory regimes
• engaging the provinces/territories
• a "voluntary sector lens" in government policy practices
• a relationship with Parliament

Strengthening Capacity

The Table on Strengthening Capacity sought to explore ways of enhancing the voluntary sector's and government's ability to meet the challenges ahead, and to continue being partners in improving the quality of life for Canadians. While the chapter concentrates mainly on voluntary sector capacity, it also recognizes the importance of the federal government's capacity to function effectively in partnership with the sector.

Capacity can mean many things, depending on the context. To focus the discussion and to allow sector organizations to assess their own capacities, the chapter outlines a generic framework of capacity with regard to the voluntary sector. The framework consists of four dimensions of capacity: financial, human resources, knowledge, and structural.

The section Options for Strategic Investments outlines several mechanisms for strengthening the sector's and government's capacity, some of which could be developed immediately, while others are longer term. The Table emphasized that while some progress could be achieved through the strategic reallocation of existing resources, an infusion of new federal funds over the long term in a few select areas would be the most strategic and effective means of strengthening the sector's capacity. However, while funding is important, capacity extends beyond funding to include the other three dimensions (human resources, knowledge, structural).

Options for Strategic Investment

Financial Capacity: Create a task force to analyze the current funding situation, and recommend government-wide funding principles and guidelines that would allow the sector to better mobilize and manage its resources.

Human Resources: Establish a National Volunteerism Initiative that would encourage Canadians to participate in voluntary organizations, and that would expand the capacity of organizations to focus, manage and benefit from volunteer contributions. As well, implement a strategy to enhance the skills of existing staff (such as through staff exchanges between the government and sector), and promote the voluntary sector as an employer of choice.

Knowledge: Establish a sector "satellite account" as a subset of Statistics Canada's System of National Accounts, and conduct the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating on a regular basis; formulate an awareness/engagement strategy to inform key target audiences (for example, Cabinet ministers, business leaders, journalists, career counsellors) about the sector; create policy fellowships and internships to increase the sector's ability to act as a partner in government policy development; and encourage the development of a voluntary sector research community.

Information Management / Information Technology (IM/IT): Develop a youth employment/co-op/apprenticeship program in IM and IT; and commission a needs and cost/benefit analysis of the development of specialized operations software for the voluntary sector that could be scaled, as appropriate, to organizations of varying sizes.

The goal of strengthening capacity is to enhance the ability of the sector and individual organizations to achieve their missions, bring their visions to life and fulfil their roles. The result would be a stronger, more resilient sector, one that is better able to thrive in the face of challenges.

Improving the Regulatory Framework

The Table on Improving the Regulatory Framework explored the problems and potential solutions surrounding the federal regulatory framework as it relates to the voluntary sector. The Table outlined options for change in four areas: the legislative framework, institutions, administration of regulation, and funding.

Options for Change

Legislative Change:

• Making accessible to the public the information that is filed with Revenue Canada in support of an application for registered charity status, and information on Revenue Canada's reasons for decisions.
• Clearly defining the non-partisan advocacy and public education activities in which charities may engage, and raising above the current 10 percent the percentage of resources that a charity can devote to such activities.
• Allowing certain categories of public-benefit organizations eligibility for registration as "deemed charities" that do not operate exclusively to the benefit of their members, and that promote specified causes not considered charitable under common law.
• Undertaking a study of the liability issue pertaining to voluntary organizations and their directors, including a clear definition of the problem, goals and objectives, and an action plan for resolution.

Institutional Change: The Table explored the need to establish a new framework for regulatory oversight, and presented three options or "models" for oversight bodies: an enhanced Revenue Canada Charities Division, an advisory agency, and a quasi- judicial commission. The Table suggests that the models be further discussed or developed through broader consultations.

Administrative Change:

• Developing a shortened version of the tax return from 13 pages to approximately
  4 pages, extending this shortened reporting requirement to all charities with revenues of $100,000 or less, and investigating whether this shorter form could suffice for charities with revenues of $100,000 or more.
• Introducing compliance mechanisms short of de-registration. The issue needs more in-depth exploration, and could be informed by several guidelines outlined by the Table.
• Introducing a new guideline (from Revenue Canada) on allowable "business-related activities" undertaken by charities.

Funding Change: The Table began a preliminary exploration of funding vehicles, as a first step in resolving the complex issues regarding who receives what type of funding for various purposes. Available data were compiled, and a preliminary analysis was undertaken on the relative advantages and disadvantages of various forms of public support for voluntary sector organizations, including tax assistance, matching grants, core funding, contributions and contracts.

This analysis can serve as a starting point for further work on the government's funding relationship with the voluntary sector. The Regulatory Table's research and analysis could be used to inform a more comprehensive examination of funding issues, as proposed by the Table on Strengthening Capacity.

Implementation Plan

The report outlines a broad implementation plan for advancing the proposals emanating from the Joint Table process. This proposed plan consists of three phases ­ Commitment, Construction and Consolidation ­ and indicates which of the report's options might take place during each. The implementation plan is designed to complement the initiatives that many departments and sector organizations are undertaking to strengthen existing relationships.

The suggested overall approach involves assigning ministerial responsibility for the development of the relationship, and a mutual commitment to a process of investigating and reporting on specific actions required to build the relationship.

Commitment Phase (Fall 1999): The federal government and sector representatives would publicly announce their commitment to developing their relationship in new directions, including specific aspects of this commitment, such as the agreement to pursue an accord and the establishment of a joint Implementation Group.

Construction Phase (Winter 1999/00 to Fall 2000): The key to this phase would be the creation of an Implementation Group composed of government and sector leaders, and supported by linked task forces to examine a number of specific issues. The Implementation Group's main task would be to oversee the research and consultations related to these issues.1 The Implementation Group would also identify issues that could be acted upon at an early stage.

Consolidation Phase (Winter 2000/01, ongoing): Implementation of any items not already acted upon could begin.

After the Consolidation Phase, work would continue, including ongoing dialogue, identification of priority issues, and actions to further enhance the government-sector relationship.

Conclusion

These options, and the Joint Table process behind them, mark just the beginning of an ongoing undertaking by the voluntary sector and government to better serve Canadians and enhance their quality of life. As the process continues, the options will become more specific, and new ones may emerge.

Now, after decades of working together on a fruitful but mostly ad hoc basis, and of pursuing common objectives from sometimes divergent or even opposing positions, the government and the voluntary sector have taken an historic step toward working together to achieve mutual goals.

This is good news for Canadians. Canada's long-standing ethic of care calls for a new kind of governance, one in which the voluntary sector and the federal government work together ­ a collaboration marked by a compassion that helps to create a world where values count, the full range of human activities is encouraged, and every person can realize his or her potential.

Participants in the Joint Table process welcome this opportunity to build a stronger, more strategic relationship, and look forward to embracing the private sector and provincial governments in this pursuit.

1 The one-year Construction Phase includes the time required by the government's and sector's internal decision-making processes to address the Implementation Group's recommendations.