PWGSC > PWGSC Reports > DPR 2005-2006 > Minister's Message 2005-2006 Departmental Performance Report

MINISTER'S MESSAGE

I am pleased to present the Departmental Performance Report for the period ending March 31, 2006, for Public Works and Government Services Canada.

This government made a commitment to Canadians during the 2006 election to strengthen accountability and restore public confidence in the fairness and integrity of the Government of Canada. That is why the early days of our mandate were focused on developing and introducing the Federal Accountability Act and Action Plan. My department played a key role in developing a number of initiatives in support of this important legislation and the accompanying Action Plan, which were introduced in April 2006.

During the past fiscal year my department also continued to make important progress on its major transformation – The Way Forward – designed to deliver services smarter, faster and at reduced cost.

In procurement, we began to simplify the way we buy goods and services to make it easier for Canadians and the private sector to do business with the government. We also launched the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises to help small and medium business suppliers compete for government business.

In real property, we began to rigorously apply fit-up standards for government offices and reduce the average amount of office space per employee.

In information technology, we made significant progress on the Shared Travel Services Initiative and the Secure Channel.

To improve the overall environmental performance of the federal government, we established the Office of Greening Government Operations.

PWGSC also introduced a number of management improvements to enhance accountability, transparency and integrity. We adopted more rigorous financial management controls and established clear accountabilities across all our business lines. We created an Office of the Chief Risk Officer to strengthen our internal risk management measures. We continued to make progress on both our ethics program and Ten-Point Integrity Plan.

While our department has accomplished much of which to be proud, we recognize that much work still lies ahead. Canadians can rest assured that we remain deeply committed to the task.