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6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations are based on the findings and conclusions of the evaluation. The first three recommendations are directed to the Weather and Environmental Services (WES) Board and the fourth recommendation is addressed both to the WES Board and the Departmental Management Services (DMS) Board.

1. Take stock and communicate which activities need to be continued in support of the modernization and sustainability of Environment Canada’s weather services.
   
   Given the ongoing importance of modernizing Environment Canada’s weather services, attention is needed to maintain the progress and momentum achieved to date. Priority attention, in particular, is required to ensure the sustainability of Environment Canada’s weather services. In deciding which of the activities initiated under the Transition Project need to continue, the WES Board needs to
   
   
   
   1. Identify the status of the activities and how the activities relate to the ongoing modernization and sustainability of MSC
      
      The overarching objective of the Transition Project was to help MSC become a more sustainable organization and infrastructure. The achievement of the other ultimate outcomes — strengthened linkages between production, science and service; improved services for Canadians and key stakeholders; and adaptation of Canadians to the environment in ways that safeguard security, health, the economy and quality of the environment — depend on the existence of a sustainable organization and infrastructure. Thus, in considering which activities should be continued, the WES Board needs to assess how these activities relate to the sustainability sought under the project and, further, how these activities contribute to the overall sustainability of Environment Canada’s weather services funded by existing A-Base resources.
      
      In this context, the WES Board also needs to consider the risk to the mandates and priorities of internal stakeholders (e.g. the Environmental Protection Board) and external stakeholders, including other federal departments and agencies, other levels of government, the private sector and Canadians at large to align with what was sent for response.
   
   
   
   2. Determine the resource requirements of ongoing activities
      
      The modernization efforts of the Transition Project were to be complemented by other A-Base programs; hence resource allocation should be considered within the broader context of A-Base funding for weather services. Seven million dollars annually has been allocated for the implementation of activities initiated under the Transition Project. In considering the budget allocations, the WES Board needs to consider how to best use and leverage the existing resources (financial and human) provided under the project with MSC’s other A-Base programs.
   
   
   
   3. Determine the adequacy of current succession planning efforts
      
      External stakeholders in particular voiced concern over the impact of an aging workforce on the capacity of Environment Canada to deliver high-quality weather services. The WES Board needs to assess the capacity of Environment Canada and the adequacy of current succession planning efforts to support sustainable and high-quality weather services to stakeholders.
   
   
   
   4. Articulate a strategic direction and implement an action plan
      
      Based on the information collected above, the WES Board needs to decide which activities will continue to be funded, how the resources will be allocated and linked to existing A-Base programs, and what needs to be done to ensure the capacity needed to deliver quality weather services. The strategic direction should be accompanied by an action plan which would set out specific measurable deliverables, timelines and accountabilities.


2. Communicate the strategic direction and action plan
   
   The strategic direction and the action plan articulated by the WES Board need to be communicated to
   
   
   
   1. MSC staff and other internal stakeholders
      
      The vision for the Transition Project was clear and, overall, MSC staff was motivated to achieve the intended outcomes. Over time, Environment Canada interviewees became discouraged by their perceived inability to achieve the intended outcomes. Modernization of Environment Canada’s weather services is an ongoing requirement of the department, and employees need to be clear about the direction of programming. The strategic direction and the action plan formulated by the WES Board need to be communicated to the MSC, to the Science and Technology Branch and to the staff of the Chief Information Officer Branch.
      
      
   2. External stakeholders outside of Environment Canada
      
      Many external stakeholders are of the view that the 2004–2005 changes in the organizational structure of MSC and the turnover in personnel have moved Environment Canada away from being a sustainable organization. External stakeholders are concerned that Environment Canada does not have the capacity or succession planning efforts in place needed to create a stable organization. The changes in governance at Environment Canada, along with MSC’s efforts to address succession planning issues, need to be addressed with external stakeholders to ensure their continued support and the continued credibility of Environment Canada’s weather services.


3. Strengthen performance measurement, monitoring and reporting at the outcome level
   
   While information on the progress of the project was collected at the activity level, information on how these activities contributed to the achievement of immediate and ultimate outcomes was not consistently collected and aggregated. Despite the existence of a performance measurement strategy, that strategy was not implemented and information at the outcome level was not readily available. The absence of performance information weakened the ability of the department to tell its full performance story as to how weather services have been modernized over the past five years and to identify ongoing requirements for programming and resources. To demonstrate good stewardship and accountability for the use of public funds and informed decision making, the WES Board needs to strengthen performance measurement, monitoring and reporting at the outcome level.



4. Ensure that mechanisms to track and report financial information are in place


The financial information system did not specifically track the use of Treasury Board Secretariat funds from the use of other A-Base funds or indicate the impact of government and department-wide budget reductions on the Transition Project. Financial information also needs to be linked to results to enable Environment Canada to determine and report on the cost-effectiveness or value for money of programming. To ensure accountability of funds and to demonstrate good stewardship over the use of funds, the WES Board, in conjunction with Departmental Management Services (DMS) Board, needs to clarify who is responsible for tracking the allocations, budget cuts and expenditures of new and A-Base funds (e.g. program managers or Corporate Finance) and what mechanisms will be used.