May 18, 2017
OIC Audit and Evaluation Committee (AEC) meeting
May 18, 2017
9:00 am to 12:30 pm
Office of the Information Commissioner
Meeting Chair: Dyane Adam
Secretary to the Committee: Richard Rizok
Attendees
Members: Dyane Adam, Chair; David Rattray, External Member; and Suzanne Legault, Information Commissioner.
Regular attendees: Layla Michaud, Chief Financial Officer/Director General, Corporate Services, and Acting Assistant Commissioner; Nancy Bélanger, General Counsel and Director of Legal Services; and Richard Rizok, Senior Financial Services Officer.
Invitees: Riowen Abgrall, Principal, Office of the Auditor General; Patricia Garand, A/Director, Financial Services, Sandra George, Director Intake and Early Resolution Unit; Carmen Garrett, Chief of Operations; Marc-André Bujold, Director, Investigations, Complaints Resolution; Allison Knight, Senior Director, Investigations; Eric Guertin, Director, IM/IT; Gino Grondin, General Counsel; Nadine Gendron, Counsel.
Record of Decisions
Meeting summary
Information shared by Legal, Finance, IT and Investigations.
Risk-based audit and evaluation plan, Phoenix, IM/IT Audit were discussed.
Welcome and opening remarks
The Chair welcomed all attendees and recognized their efforts in completing the fiscal year.
Minutes and action items from the January 19, 2017 meeting
The members approved the minutes from the January 19, 2017 meeting with one small change to OAG wording regarding Phoenix and the OAG audit. They will be published on the OIC website.
No questions or comments with regards to pending action items.
Special Purpose Allotment (SPA) and Inventory of Complaints Update – Presented by L. Michaud
Acting Assistant Commissioner discussed the number of complaints (1,389) from the backlog closed and funding from the SPA used in fiscal year 2016-17.
External member asked why the number of administrative complaints had doubled.
- The Acting Assistant Commissioner explained that some departments are having difficulty replying to Access to Information Requests in a timely manner. They do, however, tend to provide the information within 2 months of the OIC receiving a complaint.
External member asked if there were lessons learned from managing the SPA.
- New processes, method of assessing files from inventory, better understanding of requirements for employment posters, screening of potential hires for conflicts of interest, IT infrastructure set up and accommodation of new employee (work station locations).
Acting Assistant Commissioner and Secretary of the Audit and Evaluation Committee discussed the funding request for 2017-18.
Acting Assistant Commissioner discussed the most recent complaints inventory statistics and the nature and complexity of some of the new complaints from 2017-18.
Finance Update – Presented by P. Garand
The budget and the additional funding request were presented and discussed.
Action item
Secretary to send final financial figures for fiscal year 2016-17 to external members once finalized.
Financial Management (FM) and Internal Audit (IA) Policy Renewals – Presented by R. Rizok
Discussed the changes to FM and IA policy and the impact on the OIC and the AEC.
Discussed the delegation of authority instrument review at the OIC.
Discussed the OAG spring audit on procurement and fraud and how this applies to the OIC and the outsourced procurement services to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC).
Legal Update – Presented by N. Bélanger
Discussed the challenging year for legal affairs in 2016-17.
Reviewed pending court cases awaiting decisions.
Discussed legal strategies and priorities for legal team for 2017-18.
Parliamentary Activities – Presented by N. Gendron
Discussed the staffing challenges for the Parliamentary Activities team.
Updates given on meetings with ETHI and OGGO committees.
Currently finalizing the Annual Report for 2016-17.
Phoenix Pay Issues – Presented by L. Michaud
Discussed retro payments being issued and complications in calculations from Phoenix.
Discussed complications from delays in employee file transfers.
Discussed strong working relationship between HR and Finance in solving pay issues.
OAG Principal noted that the portion of the audit focused on Phoenix will concentrate on sampling and not controls.
IM/IT Audit Follow up– Presented by E. Guertin
IM/IT audit recommendations reviewed and no questions or concerns were raised.
Risk-based Audit and Evaluation Plan (RBAEP) – Presented by R. Rizok and D. Rattray
RBAEP to be developed by the External Member and Secretary in the coming months to evaluate the current risk climate.
The external member will recuse himself from any decisions that could cause a conflict of interest at future meetings.
In Camera Session
An In Camera discussion continued with the Commissioner, the Chair and the External Member.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be held on August 17, 2017.