Report on the Audit of the Aboriginal & Other Communities & Organizations Funds Program

5. ANNEX
Terms of Reference

Canada Firearms Centre (CAFC)

Audit of the Aboriginal & Other Communities & Organizations Funds Program

Purpose:

The purpose of the audit is to review appropriateness of the Contribution Agreements in place between the Canada Firearms Centre and First Nations Organizations, Other Communities and Organizations and the monitoring process of the Terms and Conditions of the agreements between CAFC with recipients across the country.

Background:

The management of the Canadian Firearms Program (CFP), including the responsibility for its implementation, rests with the Canada Firearms Centre (CAFC), which was established in 1996. Due to its mandate, the CAFC is involved in a variety of activities related to the CFP, including, but not limited to:

• Development and maintenance of the Canadian Firearms Information System (CFIS);
• Stakeholder and partner consultations;
• Legal support; regulatory development processes; public affairs;
• Communications; managing the Central Processing Site (CPS);
• Developing and providing outreach and legislative training programs; and
• Developing Canadian Firearm Safety Courses.

In December 1997, the CAFC established a communications and consultations fund to help support part of the CFP implementation efforts. This fund was entitled “Contributions to Communities and Organizations for Communications and Consultations on the Firearms Act.” The period of funding spanned three years and ended on March 31, 2000.

Throughout the following fiscal year (April 01, 2000 to March 31, 2001), Aboriginal communities sought CAFC support and funding to assist them in communicating licensing and registration requirements. These requests for assistance were being made for the purposes of facilitating Aboriginal compliance with the Firearms Act. During this same period Not-for-Profit Organizations also offered to assist the CAFC in communicating the safety requirements and benefits of the Firearms Program to Canadians.

On April 01, 2001, the CAFC decided to continue to contribute assistance toward Aboriginal and/or other communities (i.e. not-for-profit) in order to assist CAFC in implementation of the firearms legislation. This decision resulted in the establishment of a new CAFC Fund entitled “Aboriginal and/or Other Communities and Organizations Fund which was approved by Treasury Board (TB) for a five year period starting April 01, 2001 and ending March 31, 2005. CAFC will be seeking renewal for the Program.

There are five proposal assessment criteria which must be met in order to be eligible for funding:

1. Consistency with CAFC objectives and mandate;
2. Feasibility and achievability of the project;
3. Cost of proposal and consistency with Treasury Board-approved funding levels;
4. Nature and extent of community participation; and
5. Nature and extent of potential benefits.

Audit Objectives:

In order to ensure Treasury Board Terms and Conditions for the Program have been met, CAFC Audit and Evaluation must undertake a compliance audit to:

• Assure compliance with the Terms and Conditions of the Program;
  
• Ensure that the contribution recipient(s) provided all the deliverables specified in the Contribution Agreement, funds expended were eligible expenditures and were supported by proper documentation; and
  
• Assess the quality of financial control measures and mechanisms in place to manage risks effectively.

Program Budget:

The current budget for the delivery of the Program is approximately $0.5 million.

Audit Scope:

The scope of the audit will cover the fiscal period April 01, 2003 – present; and may include:

• An examination of the recipient’s accounting records and other supporting documents to determine if the total expenditures reported were eligible and in accordance with the Terms and Conditions of the Contribution Agreements;
• An assessment of the adequacy of the monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that Contribution Agreement recipients are meeting Agreement Terms and Conditions;
• An assessment of the adequacy of accountability mechanisms of recipients to CAFC;
• An assessment of CAFC’s management control frameworks; and
• Whether the department’s investment achieved the desired results.

Suggested Regions:

The regions to be covered will be determined at the planning stage.

Cost:

It is estimated that contracted resources will cost $15,000

Comments:

The audit is targeted to be completed by September 2004

Approved by: