Military Police Complaints Commission -- Publications

ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

From its inception, the Military Police Complaints Commission has been committed to providing effective civilian oversight of the Canadian Forces Military Police, and to do so in a manner that demonstrates appropriate respect both for the funds entrusted to it by the people of Canada, and for the administrative policies and procedures of the Government of Canada. There were a number of significant developments in this regard during 2004.

Reorganization

In the autumn of 2003, following the report of the Minister's Advisory Committee on Administrative Efficiency, the Minister of National Defence suggested a re-alignment of resources affecting a number of agencies within the broad umbrella of the Department of National Defence, including the Complaints Commission.

In keeping with this re-alignment of resources, and its ongoing commitment to provide service that is both effective and efficient, the Complaints Commission underwent a significant reorganization in February of 2004. The changes, which included the very difficult step of declaring surplus 14 full-time positions, refine and enhance the operational and administrative efficiency of the Complaints Commission.

The redesign of the organization was based on the findings of a complete organizational review, including a workload analysis, conducted for the Complaints Commission by Consulting and Audit Canada.

The Complaints Commission now has in place a new service delivery model, based on teamwork, multi-tasking and flexibility. A revised management structure, appropriate to overseeing the new model, is also in place. The implementation of the principles of modern comptrollership continues, and a complete Business Plan was adopted and published at the beginning of the 2004-2005 fiscal year, allowing the Complaints Commission to comply fully with all operational reporting requirements.

Budget

As detailed in the financial charts at Annex C of the Annual Report, the reorganization will result in considerable savings. This continues the Commission's long-time commitment to financial efficiency. At the end of the 2003-2004 fiscal year for example, the Complaints Commission returned $560,000 - 13 percent of its $4.2 million budget - to the federal treasury.

It is worth noting that the Complaints Commission has, in each year of its existence, returned to the federal treasury an average of some 10 percent per year of its annual funding allocation.

In the 2004-2005 and subsequent fiscal years, Complaints Commission expenditures on personnel, benefits, and other operating costs will be reduced significantly.

Public Service Commission Audit

In February 2004, the Public Service Commission (PSC) undertook an audit of the Complaints Commission's staffing activities over the three-year period from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2004. The results of the audit were released in October 2004.

The audit did identify a number of shortcomings in the administration of staffing policies and procedures, but emphasized there was no indication of unfairness or favouritism.

The Complaints Commission is committed to fairness and transparency in everything it does, and cooperated fully with the PSC during the audit process. The Complaints Commission continues to work in close collaboration with both the PSC and Public Works and Government Services Canada (which has provided human resources services to the Complaints Commission since April of 2002) to address any shortcomings and to ensure the Complaints Commission is in full compliance with all Government of Canada staffing policies and procedures.

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Last updated: 2005-04-19

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