Opening Statement to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Chapter 7 of the December 2002 Report - Canadian Space Agency - Implementing the Canadian Space Program

3 February 2003

Madam Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our report on the Canadian Space Agency and its implementation of the Canadian Space Program. Joining me at the table is Reno Cyr, the Principal responsible for the audit.

No one could have anticipated the events of this past weekend involving the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. The tragic loss of seven lives overshadows all other aspects of this disaster. This event may also involve serious setbacks for the International Space Station program and for the Canadian Space Agency's programs. Your Committee's agenda for today's discussions will surely be affected by these events. However, I will focus my opening remarks on our audit findings, all of which remain relevant to your Committee.

This was the first time since the Agency's creation in March 1989 that we have reviewed its activities. Our purpose was to identify where the Agency could improve its management practices and to inform Parliament, key stakeholders, and Canadian taxpayers about the management of the Agency's programs.

Beginning with the federal Budget in 1999 and continuing today, the Canadian Space Agency has been an organization in transition. In the previous decade its priorities were clear. Its funding was project-based and its strategic and operational management practices reflected the focus on projects.

The 1999 Budget gave the Agency its first stable, ongoing funding — $300 million annually beginning in 2002-03. At the same time, the government approved a new Canadian Space Program. These changes to its operating environment called for changes in the way the Agency does business.

The Agency's senior management recognizes the need for change and has stated its commitment to change. However, several issues in our report reflect the fact that the Agency has yet to implement fully the changes needed in its management and business practices. For example:

• The Agency needs to develop a new strategy to resolve an imbalance between its financial obligations and its annual budget. It is unable to carry out all the activities intended under the approved Canadian Space Program, and it needs to present a revised strategy to the government for approval.
• The Agency has been slow in implementing the new Management Framework called for in the Canadian Space Program. After three years, the Framework was still not operating as intended.
• There is an urgent need for the Agency to develop a strategic plan for human resources. The Agency is changing the mix of its workforce from the term and contract workers it used extensively to more indeterminate staff, consistent with its stable funding. However, it has yet to define its long-term human resource needs to ensure that it has the right number of people with the right knowledge, skills, and abilities in the right place and at the right time.
• A related concern is the Agency's pressing ahead with its staff conversion exercise without a strategic plan that defines its long-term human resource requirements.
• The Agency's measurement and reporting of performance are incomplete. It has few performance indicators to measure its progress toward achieving strategic outcomes, and its performance reporting makes it difficult for Parliament to assess whether the Agency is fulfilling its mandate.

A particular concern we raised is the legacy of funding obligations from decisions that predate the Agency's creation. Financial pressures from the RADARSAT Program and Canada's participation in the International Space Station have forced the Agency to reallocate funding from other projects and will continue to force it to allocate a significant portion of its budget to the projects over several years. The immediate result is that projects planned for other key service lines of the Agency have been deferred or cancelled, and the full scope of the Canadian Space Program is no longer being met.

The Agency's funding obligations for the Space Station will increase when Canada begins paying its share of the common system operating costs. The Agency's annual share is estimated at $50 million and is likely to increase. With the additional cost of operating and maintaining Canada's contribution to the Space Station estimated at $45 million a year, the Space Station program will soon account for about a third of the Agency's annual budget. Other financial obligations associated with the Space Station, including the cost of carrying out scientific experiments in space, have yet to be calculated.

A major new initiative that the Agency is promoting involves a significant role for Canada in the Mars exploration program led by the United States. Given the current limitations of the Agency's financial capacity to undertake even modest new initiatives, participation in the Mars program would require that the government re-examine the priorities under the current Canadian Space Program and the Agency's annual funding level.

Madam Chair, we made eight recommendations aimed at improving the Agency's management practices. We have attached a list of these recommendations as an appendix to this statement. The Agency has responded positively to our observations and recommendations. The Committee may wish to discuss with the Agency the specific steps it is taking to deal with the issues we raised and obtain from it a confirmation of its Action Plan and its timetable for implementing it. The Committee may also want to explore the Agency's strategies for balancing its annual budget and the financial pressures of its existing projects and possible new initiatives.

Madam Chair, that concludes my opening statement. We would be pleased to answer your Committee's questions.