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The Treasury Board Travel Directive was revised as part of the Federal Government's Comptrollership Modernization Plan and took effect on October 1, 2002. Its goal is to promote modern travel management practices that support the principles of the Federal Government and reflect the trends and realities of the travel industry, and to develop and implement an appropriate framework and accountability structure.
As part of the government commitment to enhance transparency and accountability, the travel and hospitality expenses of Ministers, Ministers of State, Ministers' Offices and Parliamentary Secretaries must be published on institutional websites. This requirement also applies to Deputy Ministers, Associate Deputy Ministers, Assistant Deputy Minister and equivalent levels within institutions listed under Schedules l, l.1 and ll of the Financial Administration Act. Individuals who act in these positions and incur travel or hospitality expenses in that capacity are also subject to this requirement. Expense information must be posted on-line within thirty days of the end of each reporting period. This requirement came into effect on December 12, 2003 with the first publication to be posted by March 31, 2004.
Finance and Corporate Branch of Environment Canada (EC) is responsible for financial policies, directives, monitoring and systems related to travel expenses and the proactive disclosure of travel expenses. The accounting offices within Finance and Corporate Branch is responsible for the final processing of the requisitions for payment under Section 33 of the Financial Administration Act (FAA), following approval by the delegated manager who exercises his/her authority under Sections 32 and 34 of the FAA. Managers with delegated authority have the responsibility to be familiar with TB and EC policies and directive when exercising Section 32 or Section 34. Primary responsibility for verifying individual accounts rests with officers who have the authority to confirm and certify entitlement pursuant to FAA Section 34. Persons with this authority are responsible for the correctness of the payment requested and the account verification procedures performed. At the time of the audit, the National Capital Region (NCR) and Ontario Region accounting offices, were also responsible for providing detailed and accurate information on the travel expenses for selected government officials to the Finance and Corporate Branch for the publication of proactive disclosure on the internet.
The purpose of the audit was to determine whether Environment Canada's travel practices comply with the Travel Directive, the Guidelines for Ministers' Offices and the Special Travel Authorities issued by the Treasury Board Secretariat and the policy issued by Environment Canada. The specific objectives of the audit were:
The audit reviewed all travel expense claims processed between April 1, 2005 and March 31, 2006. However, expenses related to relocation fees were excluded as they are covered by another policy.
Multiple sources of information were used to support the findings and conclusions. These included an extensive review of relevant policies and procedures, interviews and consultation with finance staff.
Based on a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of 7%, a random sample of 204 travel expense claims was selected from the financial system to verify reasonableness, accuracy, and compliance of the claims with TBS and EC policies and directives. Furthermore, a judgemental sample of 45 high risk travel claims such as, international trips, trips with a high value, etc. was also included in the testing. In addition, all travel expenses for persons subject to the Proactive Disclosure Policy were reviewed to ensure compliance with the policy.