Introduction

The January 25-26, 2005 Sectoral Follow-up Session on Accountability for Results was the seventh and final in the series. As such, it represented the completion of the sectoral follow-up sessions committed to by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the conclusion of the April 19, 2004 Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable on Strengthening the Relationship. The intention of the sectoral follow-up sessions was to explore new and innovative ideas through which the Government of Canada and national Aboriginal leaders could work together to close the quality-of-life gap between Aboriginal peoples and all Canadians. In addition to Accountability for Results, sectoral follow-up sessions have been convened for Health, Lifelong Learning (i.e. Early Childhood Development and Kindergarten to Grade 12; Post-secondary Education and Skills Training), Housing, Economic Opportunities and Negotiations.

Following the distribution of the April 19, 2004 Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable report, the Aboriginal Affairs Secretariat (AAS) within the Privy Council Office (PCO) established an overall Planning Committee to develop the proposed sectoral follow-up sessions. The Planning Committee is comprised of five National Aboriginal Organizations (NAOs) including the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the Métis National Council (MNC), the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP), and the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), key federal departments and agencies that serve as lead departments or have related responsibilities, including Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), Health Canada (HC), Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), Industry Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), and provincial and territorial officials.

A planning subcommittee, chaired by the lead department, in this case the Treasury Board Secretariat, and comprised of a similar combination of federal, Aboriginal and provincial/territorial members, applied the overall session planning guidelines to the particular needs of the Accountability for Results area. The planning subcommittee responsibilities include the following:

• identification of policy priority topics, discussion objectives and the agenda to guide discussions at the session;
• development of background papers to provide participants with an overview of key issues (available on-line);
• selection of participants and officials (observers); and
• review of the facilitators’ report on the sectoral follow-up session.

The attached participants and officials lists (Annex B) indicate that there were approximately 107 participants at the Accountability for Results Sectoral Follow-up Session. The five NAOs were given the opportunity to select 10 participants each (i.e. five core and five sectoral experts) from their organizations and/or communities at all levels. The remaining participants were selected by the lead department, based on Accountability for Results Sectoral Follow-up Session - Facilitators’ Report ...3 nominations from NAOs, provinces/territories and other federal departments. The National Aboriginal Organizations and government members of the planning subcommittee also designated officials (observers), who attended to provide support to their selected participants and report back on the discussions. Each NAO had up to three officials, the federal government had up to 15 officials and theprovincial and territorial governments divided a total of 15 seats.

The Accountability for Results Sectoral Follow-up Session was designed to bring experts and practitioners together to address the specific session objectives established by the planning committee. The Accountability for Results Sectoral Followup Session also provided a forum for the participating experts and service providers to engage in a discussion that:

• considers current accountability framework and reporting concepts, mechanisms and models;
• explores improvements to a variety of related accountability issues (e.g., accountability relationships, transparency, targeted results, performance measures, indicators, information and data needs, effective reporting, evaluation, roles and responsibilities, and capacity); and
• examines views on the outline, development and implementation process for an accountability framework and how to move forward on an Aboriginal report card.

The results from the sectoral follow-up session are contained in this Facilitators’ Report. The report is based on flip chart notes prepared by the participants and facilitators during the session and on a template/report outline approved by the Planning Committee. Participants were clearly notified in workshops that all issues, options and/or recommendations must be recorded on the flip charts in order to be included in the final report of the session. All flip charts were transcribed verbatim and are contained in Annex C.

As a practical matter, it is not possible to reflect every idea placed on the flip charts during the breakout group in the narrative of this report. The facilitation team has attempted to draft the report in a manner that highlights the content of the flip chart notes as succinctly and objectively as possible. As a result, this report should be read in tandem with the detailed ideas contained in the flip chart notes.

As well, discussion at the follow-up session built on the content of background papers prepared in advance of the Accountability for Results Sectoral Follow-up Session. In specific cases this meant that recommendations that were included in the background papers were not always expanded on or discussed in the breakout groups. It is therefore essential that this report be read in conjunction with the background papers. These background papers can be found on this Roundtable website.

Accountability for Results Sectoral Follow-up Session - Facilitators’ Report ...4 The discussions themselves, this facilitators’ report, the facilitator reports from the other sectoral follow-up sessions, and the facilitators’ final roll-up report on all sectoral follow-up sessions are intended to support and inform ongoing discussions leading to:

• a spring 2005 policy retreat between the Cabinet Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, national Aboriginal leaders, and provincial/territorial representatives¹; and
• the fall 2005 First Minister’s Meeting on Aboriginal Issues.

It is also anticipated that the participating governments and organizations may develop their own reports and analysis of the sectoral follow-up sessions. It is also understood that the brainstorming at the sectoral follow-up session in no way commits any particular government or organization to a discussion on any particular idea at upcoming political level discussions.

¹.Discussion are ongoing with provinces and territories regarding their participation in the planned spring policy retreat and this matter will be clarified as work proceeds toward this proposed initiative.

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The documentation contained on this website does not necessarily represent the views of any government or National Aboriginal Organization. The purpose of this website is to share information related to the Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable: background papers, Facilitator's sectoral and final reports, agendas and media announcements.

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