Second Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC)

June 13, 2003
8:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Participants

Record of Discussion

Monica Patten welcomed Jean Christie, the new Executive Director of the Voluntary Sector Forum (VSF) and updated the committee on activities of the VSF. The Forum is close to an agreement with the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy (CCP) to have the Centre host its work. The VSF met in early May and agreed to move to an ‘action agenda’, focussed on Accord work and sector priorities (advocacy, financing of the sector and issues concerning liability). The Forum is looking at how to work with other networks and had a presentation by the Canadian Federation of Voluntary Sector Networks at the May meeting.

Eileen Sarkar introduced Vivian Knapp as Acting Director, Voluntary Sector Affairs. She also highlighted government progress related to VSI. Government Accord champions met at the end of April and are eager to begin work. Eileen also noted a change to the Treasury Board Secretariat contracting policy that will allow voluntary sector organizations, subsidized by any level of government or with tax exempt status, to compete with commercial enterprises for government contracts. This change responds to the commitment in the 2002 Speech from the Throne to “put into action the accord [government] signed with the voluntary sector....”

DECISION: The committee approved the February 18, 2003 record of discussion, with a change in the text of the Awareness update from: “the Voluntary Sector Forum supports using the Canadian Heritage agency of record to develop and implement the awareness initiative” to “the Voluntary Sector Forum accepts using the Canadian Heritage agency of record to develop and implement the awareness initiative”.

Approval of Amended Terms of Reference, Joint Steering Committee

DECISION: The committee approved the amendment to the JSC terms of reference regarding the mechanism for conflict resolution. (See terms of reference, 8.1).

Financial Support for Governance

The committee reviewed proposed transfers of money from VSI advisory bodies to support governance within the sector and government. The committee recognized that these transfers fall far short of forecast costs.

DECISIONS:

1. A total of $700,000 will be transferred from the advisory bodies in 2003-2004 and $400,000 in 2004-2005.

2. Both sector and government will be responsible for reviewing priorities and costs within the full menu of further VSI work. JSC will monitor the financial situation of the advisory bodies.

ACTIONS:

VSAD will request regular financial data from the Awareness, Capacity, and IM/IT advisory bodies.

Update on Joint Regulatory Table

Bill McCloskey and Gordon Floyd made a joint presentation on the work and recommendations of the Joint Regulatory Table (presentation attached) and noted those of priority to the sector. Members congratulated the JRT on the report of the table and on its success in working with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) to simplify the annual charities information return. Some members noted the work of the JRT did not adequately address voluntary sector concerns regarding the issue of advocacy. A government response to the report will be prepared.

Status of Alternative Mechanism

Serge Nadeau, Don Wilson and Tim Shuurman, Department of Finance, provided the committee with a status report on the Alternative Mechanism. Its focus to date has been on the issue of advocacy; it has not addressed the definition of ‘charity’. The Alternative Mechanism will meet on June 26, 2003.

JSC members requested a further briefing on the issue of advocacy at a future meeting.

Accord and Codes of Good Practice

Janet Campbell, Canadian Heritage and Brenda Cameron Couch, Voluntary Sector Forum Secretariat updated the committee on implementation of the Accord and Codes and presented an approach for monitoring and reporting on progress (presentation attached).

DECISIONS:

1. JSC approved the proposed approach for monitoring and reporting on Accord and Codes progress.

2. The voluntary sector and government JSC members will have joint editorial responsibility for the fall report to Canadians. The format of the report will allow for both joint and independent observations.

3. Sign off of the report must take place in a timely fashion to meet the fall deadline. Approvals may be made by co-chairs, involving other JSC members by teleconference or e-mail as required.

4. Distribution of the report will be primarily electronic, with hard copies provided to Deputy Heads, Parliamentarians, and national voluntary sector organizations. Consideration will be given to expanding the distribution of hard copies to include regional organizations.

It was noted that although the first progress report focusses on early awareness efforts, future evaluation exercises should reflect a sharpening of accountabilities with regard to Accord and Codes implementation.

The committee also discussed the commitment to develop a process to resolve disputes. Examples of potential disputes were sought to determine what type of process might be appropriate. Funding of organizations by departments was the example raised. In these cases government organizations are accountable through their Minister; therefore departmental rather than government-wide dispute resolution processes would be the most appropriate option.

ACTIONS:

1. VSAD will work with government departments and agencies to develop options and models for departmental dispute resolution processes.

2. The secretariats will continue to monitor the types of Accord-related conflicts that could be addressed by a dispute resolution process.

Updates

VSI Web site

Deborah Foran, manager of the VSI Web site, presented the proposed redesign structure for the VSI Web site to make information more accessible to users not familiar with the first phase of VSI (presentation attached). The committee discussed the need to accompany the redesigned site with an outreach strategy.

The committee discussed the classification of the site and noted this would determine Government of Canada visibility.

ACTION: VSAD to follow up on classification and ownership of the Web site.

DECISION: The committee will review progress on the site at its next meeting.


Status of final reports

All of the joint tables (except the Joint Regulatory Table) and working groups established under the first phase of the VSI were asked to complete reports on their work using a template provided by the PCO Voluntary Sector Task Force. Most of the reports were submitted by the various bodies between September and December, 2002. The Joint Regulatory Table has been asked to prepare a report now that its work is complete.

ACTIONS:

1. The reports are in the final stages of French and English editing and will be posted on the VSI-ISBC Web site. Originators will receive a final copy to read through before publication.

2. The PCO Voluntary Sector Task Force had also initiatied work on the preparation of a comprehensive but concise overview of Phase 1 VSI, “The VSI Story: A Shared Journey”, which provides highlights of the work accomplished through the joint table process. Hard copies will be distributed to a broad audience, including all joint table members, past and existing committees, and other VSI stakeholders as appropriate.

Advisory bodies

Written updates by the Awareness, Capacity and IM/IT advisory bodies were provided to the committee in advance. The committee noted they were pleased the Awareness advisory body held a consultation with key voluntary sector representatives to seek their views on messaging for the national awareness campaign. Suzanne Clément noted that ongoing consultation would be balanced with the target delivery of the campaign for fall 2003.

Integrated Workplan

Phil Nicholson, the consultant hired by PCH and the VSFS to develop a framework for an integrated workplan, focussed primarily on the work of the Awareness, Capacity and IM/IT, presented the recommendations based on his consultations with advisory bodies and other key groups related to VSI.

The committee agreed with the spirit of the recommendations to ensure better coordination. Suzanne Clément pointed out the secretariats for the advisory bodies, VSAD and VSF would meet quarterly to work together.

DECISION: Deferred due to lack of quorum for this item.

ACTION: VSAD will reword some of the analysis and recommendations in the presentation to address some committee members’ concerns. The revised deck will be e-mailed to all JSC members for approval of the recommendations.

[The committee received the revised presentation deck by e-mail and approved the recommendations presented on slide 14 (presentation attached).]

Other items/Next Meeting

DECISIONS:

1. In future, the record of discussion will be e-mailed to members for approval to ensure timely public posting.

2. Different formats and locations for future meetings will be considered to better accommodate members schedules and ensure quorum for all decision items.

3. The next JSC meeting may take place in mid-September, pending a decision on venue for the VSF meeting of September 18 and 19. VSAD will contact members to determine a date as soon as possible. E-mail and/or teleconferences will be used for items requiring JSC decisions over the summer.

*   Voluntary Sector Forum Secretariat (VSFS)
** Voluntary Sector Affairs Directorate (VSAD)