Order Directing that the Document Set Out in the Schedule be Discontinued: SI/2022-18

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 156, Number 6

Registration
SI/2022-18 March 16, 2022

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION ACT

P.C. 2022-201 March 3, 2022

Whereas it appears to the Governor in Council that the document set out in the schedule, required by an Act of Parliament to be laid before both Houses of Parliament, contains the same information as or less information than is contained in the Public Accounts or in any estimates of expenditures submitted to Parliament;

Therefore, Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Natural Resources, pursuant to section 157 footnote a of the Financial Administration Act footnote b, directs that the document set out in the schedule be discontinued.

Order Directing that the Document Set Out in the Schedule be Discontinued

SCHEDULE

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

Proposal

This Order is made under section 157 of the Financial Administration Act. The Order discontinues the requirement to table an annual report of the Northern Pipeline Agency (the Agency) in Parliament, given that this document contains the same information as or less information than is contained in the Agency’s Departmental Results Report, which is also tabled in Parliament.

Objective

The objective of the Order is to reduce duplication in reporting, thereby promoting the efficient use of departmental resources without compromising the level of information accessible to the public.

Background

Under the Northern Pipeline Act (the Act), the Minister of Natural Resources is required to table the Agency’s annual report in Parliament on the Agency’s operations for the preceding fiscal year. In parallel, the Agency is also required to submit a Departmental Results Report to the Treasury Board Secretariat for tabling in Parliament by the President of the Treasury Board that effectively serves the same purpose, i.e. to provide an account of each federal department or agency’s actual performance for the most recently completed fiscal year against the plans, priorities and expected results set out at the beginning of the year.

Under the Financial Administration Act, the Governor in Council may direct that an account, statement, return or other document be discontinued if it appears to contain the same information or less than is contained in the Public Accounts or in any estimates of expenditures submitted to Parliament. The Departmental Results Report is a Part III Estimates document. Based on a comparison of the Agency’s Departmental Results Report and its annual report for the 2019–2020 fiscal year, the Agency’s annual report was found to contain the same or less information than is contained in the Departmental Results Report, thus meeting the requirements of the Financial Administration Act. The Agency has also committed to ensuring no loss of information will result from discontinuing its annual report.

Similar orders have been made for the annual reports of the Canada Revenue Agency (SI/2016-63), the Parks Canada Agency (SI/2005-50), the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (SI/2005-50), the Canada Industrial Relations Board (SI/2003-146), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (SI/2003-146), among others.

Implications

The reduction in duplication of reporting will promote the efficient use of departmental resources without compromising the level of information accessible to the public. Parliamentarians and other stakeholders who used the annual reports will experience no loss in information, as they will continue to have access to the same and additional information, provided in the Agency’s Departmental Results Reports.

Consultation

Given that the Order does not affect information available to parliamentarians and the public, no external consultations were conducted.

Contact

Jeannine Ritchot
Assistant Deputy Minister
Communications and Portfolio Sector
Natural Resources Canada