Management Action Plan - Core Control Audit of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission 2016

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

Planned Actions:

The CRTC will continue to work with the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Canadian Heritage to resolve this long outstanding legal issue until the Delegated Financial Authorities Chart is approved by the Minister.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

Planned Actions:

The CRTC will:

3. The CRTC should ensure that sufficient documentation is retained on file for acquisition cards, specifically in relation to:

• The approval of credit limit increases and changes to allowable merchant categories and countries by responsibility centre managers;
• The acknowledgement of responsibilities by cardholders; and
• Support that acquisition card purchases are government business-related expenses.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

Planned Actions:

The CRTC will introduce new acquisition cards with microchips and will update every file to include:

• The responsibility centre manager’s approval of credit limit, limit increase, changes to allowable merchant categories and countries as applicable; and
• The cardholder’s acknowledgement form.

4. The CRTC should ensure that contracting business processes are improved and are consistently performed in compliance with the Treasury Board Contracting Policy and that sufficient documentation is retained on file to ensure that:

• Statements of work are developed and explicitly defined prior to contract award;
• Non-competitive contract files include sole‑source justification in accordance with section 6 of the Government Contracts Regulations;
• Best‑value analysis is performed prior to contract award;
• Appropriate procurement vehicles are chosen and used in compliance with their terms and conditions;
• The bid selection method and evaluation criteria are clearly outlined for competitive contracts and requests for proposal are developed and issued;
• The evaluation of proposals and the selection of contractors is conducted in accordance with pre-established criteria in a fair, open and transparent manner;
• Bid evaluation reports are developed and signed by a minimum of two clearly identified evaluators;
• Contracts and amendments are issued before goods and services are received; and
• Contract amendments are properly justified and substantiated.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

The CRTC spent a total of $5.6M on contracting in 2015-2016.

Planned Actions:

The Resource Manager Training is being developed; it will explain the need to:

• Reduce the use of sole source contracts;
• Explore alternatives to sole source contracting and promote the use of existing standing offers or that other established procurement vehicles are used;
• Define the bid selection method and evaluation criteria before RFP is developed and issued;
• Document and justify decisions by signing evaluation reports, justifying sole source decisions, clearly demonstrating the competiveness of vendor rates;
• Select the winning vendor in accordance with the terms and conditions of the RFP;
• Formally issue contracts or amendments before the work can proceed or continue beyond the terms of the contract.

5. The CRTC should ensure that travel business processes are improved and are consistently performed in compliance with the National Joint Council Travel Directive, and that sufficient documentation is retained on file to ensure that:

• Employees are reimbursed for eligible meal expenses; and
• Accommodations are selected from the Government Accommodation Directory and within the city rate limit, and sufficient justification is kept on file when the hotel is not included in the Directory or when the identified limit is exceeded.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

The CRTC spent a total of $617K on travel in 2015-2016.

Planned Actions:

6. The CRTC should ensure that hospitality business processes are improved and are consistently performed in compliance with the Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conference and Event Expenditures, and that sufficient documentation is retained on file to ensure that:

• Planning documentation reasonably justifies the operational need for the hospitality expenditures, especially in situations where hospitality is extended to a gathering of public servants only; and
• The most efficient and economical alternatives for hospitality expenditures have been considered.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

The CRTC spent a total of $120K on conferences and $29K on hospitality in 2015-2016.

Planned Actions:

The mandatory Resource Manager Training will stress the need to:

• Ensure planning documentation is reasonably justified and documented; and
• Demonstrate that the most efficient and economical alternatives for hospitality expenditures have been considered.

Response: Management partially agrees with the recommendation taking into consideration third party systems are flawed.

Planned Actions:

CRTC will ensure that detailed year-end performance reviews are completed for all eligible employees.

With the implementation of Public Service Performance Management (PSPM), in 2014-2015, and Executive Talent Management System (ETMS), in 2015-2016, these systems were intended to provide electronic signoff and automatic date stamps.

Both systems are provided by and under the control of the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer (OCHRO). Serious reliability concerns exist as systems have been off-line for considerable periods of time and create a culture of distrust of systems and a direct impact of end-user usability.

8. The CRTC should ensure that expenditure initiation (pre-approval and commitment) is properly documented and performed by an individual who has the appropriate delegated authority before expenses are incurred, specifically in relation to acquisition card purchases, contracting, hospitality expenditures and pay administration actions.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

Total O&M and salary budget expended in 2015-2016 was $51.3M.

Planned Actions:

9. The CRTC should ensure that account verification is performed by the appropriate delegated authority on a timely basis, and supported by complete documentation (proof of execution and cost), specifically regarding acquisition card purchases, contracting, hospitality expenditures and pay administration actions.

Response: Management agrees with the recommendation.

Planned Actions: