Fifth Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC)

June 21, 2004
12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Participants

Record of Discussion

Introductions/Opening Remarks

Monica Patten welcomed everyone to the meeting. Representatives from the VSF have reviewed documents for the meeting and will provide input and proposals as items are discussed.

Susan Scotti welcomed everyone. She reiterated that the VSI is an important initiative and added that the current timing is affecting the low participation.

Susan Scotti advised JSC members that Mike Sheridan is leaving government at the end of the month to take on new challenges. She took the opportunity to thank him for his contribution to the VSI. Monica Patten expressed her thanks to Mike Sheridan for his commitment and generosity toward the VSI in the past years. Members at the meeting transmitted good wishes to Mike as well.

Housekeeping

a) Revised JSC Terms of Reference

Lynne Westlake explained the proposed changes to the Terms of Reference. Members agreed that most proposed revisions are housekeeping and are supportive. The exception concerns the proposed wording at 1.4.1. Gordon Floyd indicates that it is important to maintain the word “annual” and that a listing of key ministers/departments be identified. Susan Scotti felt that there is no difficulty in keeping the reference to an annual meeting but that such a meeting will require a strong focus to engage Ministers. She suggested adding the following: “that the government and voluntary sector engage in an annual discussion on areas of mutual interest”.

The Terms of Reference will be amended to reflect the discussion and submitted at the next meeting for approval.

Action: Rewrite JSC Terms of Reference and resubmit at next meeting for approval

b) Membership

Last December, the former HRDC was split in two new departments, Social Development and Human Resources Skills Development. This new government structure has added one government member to the JSC. It is proposed to add one voluntary sector member, bringing the committee to 14 members (seven from government and seven from the voluntary sector). Adding two members while retaining the quorum at eight will facilitate the scheduling of meetings.

Monica Patten agreed with the amendment and the VSF will look at appointing another member representing the voluntary sector.

Action: VSF to appoint a new member to the JSC

Budget 2004 Implications and VSI Post 2005

Budget 2004 provides $6 million over the next two years to advance the VSI by strengthening the sector’s capacity to collaborate and innovate. Susan Scotti presented the table summary that was developed following discussions with Monica Patten and the VSF team. Discussions focussed on areas of priorities. Monica Patten inquired as to the timing of the Treasury Board Submission. Susan Scotti informed members that the submission is currently being written. Members discussed the document at length. Shauna Sylvester wanted to ensure that it is understood that liability is included in the proposed priorities and is assured that it is integrated. Monica Patten added that this $6 million is above the money already in place until the end of 2005 (CJT, Awareness, etc) and asked if GOL is included. Debra Young indicated that GOL is not included and that no funding is available unless the JSC would like to integrate it in the priorities for the $6 million. She indicated that there is an initial cost of $500,000 with an annual cost for maintenance in the following years. There is possibility that some funding could be available in the next fiscal year through the Canadian Web Site Initiative.

The discussion then evolved to the future of the VSI. Members held a frank discussion about the future of the VSI, and the need for the sector to reposition itself- for example, in the context of public trust and civic engagement, and as a partner in advancing governments’ priorities. Members felt that the discussion will influence the other items on the agenda.

Building the Relationship

a) Joint Champions Meeting September 2004-06-30

Susan Scotti presented the proposal for a joint Champions meeting, noting however that the discussion of the previous item will have an influence on the proposed agenda for a Joint Champions Meeting. Shauna Sylvester added that perhaps the theme needs to be stronger, for example, “Building Public Trust” and suggested finding the best speaker on the theme and having discussion tables with key guiding questions prepared to stimulate discussion.

Monica Patten indicated that the timing (September) may be too soon, due to the transition following the elections and the discussions held at the previous item. Susan Scotti added that she also felt uncomfortable with the timing and agreed that it may be best to delay the meeting to later in the fall, when the government’s policy agenda is clearer. It was decided to aim for the end of November to hold the meeting. As well, the proposed theme/objectives will be revisited in the context of the policy environment. Monica suggested that one or two JSC members be available to assist SDC staff working on the meeting. Susan Scotti suggested that a call of the co-chairs be held to finalize a date for the meeting.

Action: Rework the theme/objectives for the meeting, organize a conference call to finalize date.

b) Accord and Code Implementation

Brenda Cameron Couch provided members with an update on activities in the past few months to promote the implementation of the Accord and Code. She provided members with an overview of the May joint training sessions that were held and presented some of the results of those sessions.

c) Proposed Task Force on Federal Funding Instruments

Susan Scotti presented the background and proposed Terms of Reference for a Task Force on Federal Funding Instruments. The task force would look at the current status and flexibility already in existence to see if mechanisms could be improved to facilitate the funding process. She added that expectations should not be that new funding would arise from the work of the task force but rather a better targeting and better use of existing funding instruments. The Treasury Board policy on transfer payments allows flexibility however departments sometimes tend to interpret the policy in a more restrictive fashion to ensure that departmental accountability requirements are met. Members discussed the proposed Terms of Reference for the task force and proposals were noted. SDC will review the terminology in order to make the Terms of Reference more inclusive and clearer.

Action: SDC to review proposed terms of reference

Government and Voluntary Sector Progress Reporting – Fall 2004

Debra Young briefed the committee on the VSI progress reporting. An Interdepartmental Government Progress Reporting Working Group has updated and improved last year’s questionnaire, and enhanced the comparability of results between government and the voluntary sector by having similar questions included in the voluntary sector questionnaire. Although the questionnaire has been informally sent out to departments, the questionnaire is expected to be sent officially to Deputy Heads in the very near future. The information from returned questionnaires will be compiled and serve as the basis for the next Report to Canadians, which has a planned release date of December 5, 2004

Jean Christie advised members that the VSF has sent out the voluntary sector questionnaire to organizations on their mailing list (approximately 6000). The VSF was hoping to be able to access the list of stakeholders dealing with the federal government on a regular basis in order to forward the questionnaire to those organizations. This may allow for a better response rate than last year. Members felt such an option would be difficult, considering privacy issues. They added that sending the questionnaire to a new group of organizations would limit comparability with the previous year. The VSF will look at securing the services of the same writer as last year which would speed up the writing process for the report, and help ensure consistency in style with the first report.

Evaluations

Debra Young informed the committee that SDC is in the process of securing departmental approval of the VSI Process Evaluation Report and the SIDPD Evaluation Report, with the goal of making the evaluation reports public in July. Steps are also being taken to initiate the work for the VSI summative evaluation, including a first meeting of the joint Evaluation Steering Committee in July 2004.

Other Business/Wrap-up

Monica Patten indicated that discussions held today have been very helpful to move forward with the VSI. Susan Scotti also felt that it was a positive dialogue.

The next meeting will be at the end of September 2004 and a conference call will be held prior to that date to discuss the date for the Joint Champions Meeting.