Industry Canada 2004-2005 Performance Report (en francais)

I suppose it's appropriate that this report is being released at the same time as Gomery.

Considering what is publicly known about the TPC Technoscam these days, it's amazing that Minister Emerson and his department can keep churning out these reports - and expect Parliament to believe them.

* 51 Audits completed so far

* 15 companies found using unregistered lobbyists, paying contingency fees or both

* 11 more audits are still underway

* 4 more audits are awaiting field work/quality review

15 out of 51 audits - 29.4% have "compliance" issues, with a further 11 reports still outstanding.

Industry Canada and Minister Emerson are still trying to decide whether audits should be done on the rest of the program.

Given all that, the government releases it's Performance Report for Industry Canada(PDF).
(Performance Report-HTML)

What does the report have to say about these serious issues?

Significant Evaluation Findings:
The evaluation highlighted the following recommendations:
* Review the balance, scope and focus of activities to ensure efficient use of funds.
* Review and revise the project selection process.
* Adjust the “unrealistic” 3-percent operating budget level to the higher level needed for this type of program.
* Develop better performance measures and communications to tell TPC’s story.

The department's annual report is no better:

Finally, in 2004/–2005, TPC took a number of steps to educate its client base about their obligations to, and ensure compliance with, the Lobbyist Registration Act (LRA) and the use of contingency fees. With respect to client education, we have enhanced our website to highlight rules around lobbyists and contingency fees. We have implemented processes to send information letters at every stage of the TPC application process to clients reminding them of their obligations. We have improved our contractual agreements to more clearly identify TPC requirements on these issues.

In addition to client-focussed measures, we introduced a number of internal activities related to the LRA. These included a mandatory training program for all TPC staff, and the development of an enhanced process that requires client certification at each of the stages of the TPC application process.

Related Post
TPC Smokescreen

It's only $2.8 billion dollars of your tax money. Besides, we can trust the Liberals - right?

(Cross posted from Technoscam)