1989 Report of the Auditor General of Canada

Main Points

11.1 The Canadian Parks Service (CPS) is responsible for protecting significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage for all time and providing public access to this heritage in ways that do not impair its integrity (paragraphs 11.7 to 11.9).

11.2 Improvements to a number of management planning and control systems have been started, but implementation of most of these systems has been slow. The Canadian Parks Service lacks a strategic plan to provide guidance and coherence to these various efforts. Many of the problems we observed in our 1983 audit and 1985 follow-up still remain (11.17 to 11.21).

11.3 The Canadian Parks Service has developed and uses a well designed planning procedure to ensure that the diverse natural regions of Canada will be represented in our national parks system. However, because there is no time-frame for completing the system, there is a danger that opportunities to establish parks in some natural regions may disappear before the national parks system can be completed (11.23 to 11.31).

11.4 Although the program evaluation function has existed since 1978-79, the first evaluation study is not scheduled until 1992. In addition, the Canadian Parks Service continues to lack reliable measurement of attendance statistics. More than 10 years will have elapsed before recognized deficiencies are corrected. A performance measurement information system is expected to be ready for 1994 (11.32 to 11.39).

11.5 Within the parks, procedures have been developed to protect the natural resources. However, in the parks we visited these natural resource management procedures were not being implemented, even for plants and animals recognized as high priority (11.40 to 11.50).

11.6 Opportunities exist to improve the productivity of a number of overhead activities, and to reallocate resources to meet potential shortages in operational areas (11.68 to 11.88).

Background

11.7 The Canadian Parks Service (CPS) is a major program of the Department of the Environment. The objective of the Parks program is "to protect those places which are significant examples of Canada's natural and cultural heritage for the benefit, understanding and enjoyment of the people of Canada, in ways which leave that heritage unimpaired for future generations".

11.8 Part III of the 1988-89 Estimates reports that CPS administers 34 national parks, 83 national historic parks and major historic sites, 9 heritage canals, 5 heritage rivers and 2 co-operative heritage areas.

11.9 Natural heritage is concerned with the physical features, plants and animals of our country; cultural heritage is concerned with certain physical reminders of important people, places and events in Canadian history. Systems of national parks and historic sites are being developed by CPS to protect examples of our natural and cultural heritage.

11.10 The Canadian Parks Service is governed by a number of statutes including the Department of the Environment Act, the National Parks Act, the Historic Sites and Monuments Act and the Department of Transport Act. The Parks program's mandate dates back to 1887; the most recent amendment to the National Parks Act, in 1988, was to strengthen its ability to preserve Canada's natural heritage and ensure that it is used with care.

11.11 The Canadian Parks Service's organizational structure is shown in Exhibit 11.1. The 1988-89 person-years and expenditures for the Parks program are shown in Exhibit 11.2.

(Exhibits 11.1 and 11.2 not available)

11.12 The Canadian Parks Service has been under resource constraint since our 1983 audit. Person-years have remained relatively constant. Operation and maintenance budgets, in 1984-85 dollars, have not changed significantly. During the same period CPS' capital budget, in 1984-85 dollars, decreased by approximately 17 percent. The addition of five new national parks in this period has put further pressure on available resources.

11.13 The Canadian Parks Service is responsible for managing certain assets which it feels are not directly related to its mandate. The Service believes this deflects resources away from other assets which contribute more directly to the Parks program objective. For example, CPS is responsible for maintaining roads which are used as national highways. Maintenance expenditures on these roads, which must be open year-round, account for about 10 percent of total expenditures on assets maintenance. This puts considerable pressure on the person-years and dollars available for maintaining other assets, for providing services to visitors and for important resource conservation activities.

11.14 In 1988 the Treasury Board requested that the Departments of Environment, Public Works and Transport review their respective responsibilities for expenditures on highways in national parks. This review had not been completed at the time of our audit.

Audit Scope

11.15 Our 1983 audit of CPS focussed on key aspects of operations. These included new park acquisitions, program management information, management of professional staff and revenue policy. In 1985 we reported on action taken in response to our 1983 observations and recommendations. In this audit we revisited many of the same areas. Specifically, we concentrated on the following aspects of program management:

• Strategic planning. We examined strategic and operational planning procedures.
• Performance measurement and reporting. We examined:

- the implementation of policy and procedures for land-based national park system planning;

- the policy and procedures for obtaining and using attendance statistics; and

- the major approaches used by CPS for the ongoing and periodic measurement of program effectiveness.

• Protecting natural resources and physical assets. We examined:

- the protection of natural resources through the implementation of Natural Resource Management Plans which cover parks' plants, animals and natural features;

- the management of the in-service stage of physical assets, such as buildings, utilities, campgrounds, trails, roads, canals and major equipment.

• Managing the efficient use of human resources. We examined:

- the extent to which service quality has been maintained during a period of resource constraint; and

- the extent to which CPS minimizes organizational layering and overhead and administrative burdens.

• Managing revenue and cost recovery. We examined:

- compliance with Treasury Board and CPS cost recovery policies; and

- fee establishment and collection procedures.

• Managing informatics. We examined the functions and activities designed to achieve efficient and effective use of information technology within CPS.
• Information for Parliament. We examined the quality of information provided for Parliament in Part III of the 1988-89 Estimates.

11.16 Several CPS activities receive functional direction from the Department of the Environment's corporate organization. These activities include informatics management and financial management and control. We plan to report on DOE's corporate functional direction in these and other areas in 1990.

Observations and Recommendations

Strategic Planning

There is a need for a strategic plan

11.17 CPS has not prepared a strategic plan to guide the allocation of the Parks program's budgetary resources to meet strategic objectives. A strategic plan would require the Service to articulate the program's role. It would be an analysis of the environment, a statement of long-term objectives, and a strategy for achieving those objectives. It would identify priorities and associated resources as well as a time-frame and tactics. Such a plan would not be static; it would have to be adjusted to changing circumstances. Nevertheless, it would serve to provide a common vision and guidance to all program personnel.

11.18 A strategic plan provides a consistent basis for determining the proportion of resources to be allotted to the various components of the program. There are many competing demands. National parks compete with national historic parks and sites for scarce resources, operations with capital, resource conservation with visitor activities and park establishment with park development. Not establishing priorities for such demands in an environment of scarce resources risks seriously weakening functions central to the program objective in order to maintain less important functions or facilities.

11.19 We identified several such cases, which we believe might have been avoided by the existence and use of a strategic plan. A strategic plan might have meant that the operational priority given natural resource conservation (paragraphs 11.46 and 11.49), would have better reflected its importance in the Parks program mandate. A strategic plan would provide direction for more efficient use of personnel (paragraph 11.80) and for managing support functions such as informatics (paragraph 11.106).

11.20 The Canadian Parks Service should develop a strategic plan and review operational plans in relation to objectives set out in the strategic plan.

Canadian Parks Service response: The Canadian Parks Service is developing a strategic plan that will serve as a guide for setting program direction for operational plans.

11.21 The Canadian Parks Service should use these plans as a means of determining direction, including setting priorities, allocating resources, making decisions, controlling activities and reporting to Parliament.

Canadian Parks Service response: Current processes for the translation of the Canadian Parks Service strategic plan into program direction, the setting of priorities, the allocation of resources and the control of activities will be more formalized.

Performance Measurement and Reporting

11.22 Management needs reliable information to assess the effectiveness with which program objectives are being achieved. The objectives are included in the program's mandate to "protect and use" (paragraph 11.7) which requires, among other things, the establishment of parks, the conservation of resources within parks, and the appropriate presentation of these resources to Canadians. A suitable mix of ongoing performance measurement and periodic evaluation is required to produce such information and report to both management and Parliament.

National Parks Systems - Opportunities to establish parks in some natural regions are diminishing

11.23 The plan for the national parks system, approved by Cabinet in 1979, calls for park representation in each of Canada's 39 defined land regions.

11.24 Program management reports that "the extent to which the parks systems include representative examples of Canada's heritage has been the prime measure of the Program's effectiveness" regarding its protection objective.

11.25 Management has developed a planning procedure which seeks to identify areas representative of each of these regions. The park planning system is well designed, with one important exception -- it lacks a schedule for completion. Once areas within natural regions are identified, the system plan does not provide guidance on which national parks should be established and in what order of priority.

11.26 At the time of our audit, 21 of the 39 land-based regions (54 percent) were represented by at least one park or reserve for a park. Of the remaining 18, 7 have proposals for the conversion of a representative area to a park (although 3 of those proposals are inactive); 7 others have areas identified but proposals have not yet been made; and 4 remain for which representative areas have not yet been identified.

11.27 In each of the 18 natural regions not yet represented, opportunities to establish parks are diminishing. In fact it may already be too late to represent certain regions in their natural state. A recent study commissioned by the Minister of the Environment states that the same may be true within 20 years in these still unrepresented regions.

11.28 The Canadian Parks Service reports to Parliament on progress in acquiring new parks and on the number of natural regions represented. The Canadian Parks Service does not report on the likelihood of not achieving the objective of completing the parks system.

11.29 Of the 15 parks established since 1971 (when formal planning procedures were instituted), five were in natural regions already represented by one or more national parks. Of these, two new parks (Bruce Peninsula and Mingan Archipelago Reserve) were established in a region which was already represented by two parks (Georgian Bay Islands and Point Pelee). The rationale offered by CPS was that the existing parks did not sufficiently represent the diversity of the region. However, the effect of such additions is to direct resources toward improving representation in areas already represented rather than establishing parks in regions not yet represented.

(Exhibit 11.3 not available)

11.30 "A Plan For Completing The National Parks System" was prepared in October 1982 but was never approved by senior management. More recently, CPS advised us that in 1989-90 management expects to produce a review of the overall parks system plan. The review is intended, on a region-by-region basis, to describe the adequacy of representation of the natural regions by existing park(s). For regions not represented by a park, the current stage of planning will be identified. In each such region, the factors, including "risk to natural resources", that affect the speed of the park creation process will also be analyzed. Any other existing forms of environmental protection (e.g. provincial parks) will be identified. However, this review does not intend to project a range of completion dates for the parks system. Different levels of resource availability result in different completion dates.

11.31 The Canadian Parks Service's biennial report to Parliament should include both the progress made in completing the national parks system and an assessment of the probable completion dates for the national parks system under circumstances existing at the time of the report.

Canadian Parks Service response: The Canadian Parks Service's report in future will include statements concerning these matters to the extent that it is possible to make such an assessment, given that many factors affecting new park establishment are beyond the control of the federal government, such as comprehensive native land claims and federal/provincial/territorial negotiations.

Attendance statistics are still not reliable

11.32 The presentation of heritage resources to the public is part of the CPS program objective. Attendance statistics are used by program management to inform Parliament on the effectiveness of its presentation activities and to inform decision makers regarding, for example, park operation seasons, staff levels and public demand for specific services.

(Photos not available)

11.33 Prior to 1983, CPS recognized serious difficulties with the reliability of its attendance statistics. Our last audit, in 1983, highlighted the unreliability of reported numbers. It was not until 1988-89 that new procedures, which are sound in theory, were implemented in some parks.

11.34 The new procedures are intended to distinguish between entrants to the parks who are simply using the roads as thoroughfares, and those who are there for heritage appreciation or recreation. The number of visits reported should be an accurate count of the latter group.

11.35 The present plan is to have the new procedures fully in place for April 1993. It calls for a quality assurance review of the new procedures on a region-by-region basis. One result of this approach is that some parks that account for very significant portions of the total number of visits (e.g. Banff, Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay) will not be part of the new system until late in the process. In all, more than 10 years will have passed before recognized deficiencies in data used for program management are corrected.

Excessive delays in developing performance measurement information

11.36 Since 1976 Treasury Board policy has required that departments establish procedures for routinely measuring their ongoing operational performance. The Canadian Parks Service does not yet have procedures for performance measurement. Such procedures would routinely measure the ongoing performance of operations in terms of the effectiveness with which objectives are being achieved and the efficiency with which they are being administered.

11.37 In 1984, management acknowledged the need for better program performance information and initiated a Management Information Framework (MIF) project to meet the need. Some performance measurement information is expected beginning in 1991-92. However, this project is not expected to provide comprehensive systematic measurements of the results of CPS operations before March 1994 -- about 10 years after the initial decision was taken to develop and implement ongoing measures of performance.

Management is not conducting program evaluation

11.38 Treasury Board directives and guidelines call for the evaluation of all major components of a program about once every five years. These evaluations are intended to provide management with credible, timely, useful and objective information to be used for resource allocation, program improvement and management accountability.

11.39 A departmental program evaluation function has existed in the Department of the Environment since 1978-79. Current resources allocated to the function are three person-years and approximately $200,000. However, as of 31 March 1989, the first CPS program evaluation study had yet to be started. Two preparatory efforts to evaluate CPS operations, in 1982 and in 1985, did not lead to evaluation studies. We are told that the first full evaluation of a Parks program activity is now scheduled for 1991-92.

Protecting Natural Resources

11.40 Resource conservation is a central activity of the Parks program mandate. The Parks Program Policy includes the statement that "natural resources within national parks will be given the highest degree of protection to ensure the perpetuation of a natural environment essentially unaltered by human activity."

11.41 Each national park is required to have a Park Management Plan. An integral component of each park's plan is a Park Conservation Plan in which the park identifies and establishes priorities for its natural resource management problems. For each problem, a Resource Management Plan is to be prepared to specify needed studies, what is to be done about the problem and how it will be monitored.

Lack of resource management plans

11.42 We observed that the Park Conservation Plans were prepared and were reviewed at the regional and national levels. However, in the majority of cases, the Resource Management Plans, which are fundamental to the process, have not been prepared and the necessary studies and monitoring of the resources have not been done.

11.43 The Canadian Parks Service should prepare and use Resource Management Plans as required and monitor and report the progress made in resolving natural resource problems.

Canadian Parks Service response: Resource Management Plans are prepared on a priority basis. These plans require capital funding to implement and efforts are underway to obtain this funding through re-allocation of existing resources. The Natural Resource Management Process provides for monitoring and reporting on the progress made in resolving natural resource problems. This monitoring program can only be effective if additional long-term operating resources can be committed.

Natural resources not given priority

11.44 Resource management is designed to protect selected areas of land and water and the plants and animals within those environments. It begins with the establishment of a park and continues with the protection of the resources within the park boundary.

11.45 Park management is expected to establish parks which are representative of a natural region. This expectation has sometimes been prevented by commercial interests during the negotiations leading to an agreement establishing a park boundary. One example is the exclusion from Kluane National Park of caribou calving grounds in the Klutlan Glacier area and Wolverine Plateau because of existing mining interest in these areas.

11.46 The Canadian Parks Service is charged with protecting the natural resource ecosystems within each park. This objective is threatened when commitments to the development of park visitor facilities precede the development of the basic inventory of natural resources. Two examples are the proposed chairlift or funicular at an unstable site in Gros Morne National Park and visits to Ile Nue (a short grass terrain with fragile Arctic plants and fossils) in Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve.

11.47 The Canadian Parks Service should ensure the inclusion of 'escape clauses' in park establishment agreements to allow park development plans to be changed if threats to resources are discovered after the agreements are made.

Canadian Parks Service response: The Canadian Parks Service attempts to avoid including specific development commitments in new park agreements.

Breaches of resource protection policy

11.48 Canadian Park Service policies are designed to conserve ecosystems. The policies ban all forms of damage or removal of resources except certain traditional activities and then only under conditions specified at the time of park establishment.

(Exhibit 11.4 not available)

11.49 In practice, however, CPS has allowed many breaches of the resource protection policy. There are examples of damage to plant life (a growth of the Franklin's Lady's Slipper, a rare native orchid, was destroyed by the placement of a campsite at Pukawska National Park) and wildlife (Dall sheep were disturbed by visitor encroachment at Kluane's Sheep Mountain). Other situations include non-monitored duck hunting at Point Pelee National Park (prohibited by the Minister, June 1989), non-authorized taking of bear at Wood Buffalo National Park, and snowmobiling in non-authorized areas of Gros Morne National Park.

11.50 The Canadian Parks Service should ensure appropriate protection of natural resources consistent with its own policies.

Canadian Parks Service response: Ensuring priority is given to the protection of natural resources requires the clear commitment of adequate fiscal and manpower resources to the planning, implementation and monitoring of established and approved plans and processes. Park plans identify key issues and the steps to be taken in their resolution. However, due to competing priorities sufficient financial and human resources are not always available.

Protecting Physical Assets

11.51 Our audit of CPS' physical assets focussed on the management of the in-service (in use) stage. We did not examine the planning and acquisition and disposal stages of their life cycle. These assets include buildings (contemporary and historic), utilities, campgrounds, trails, roads, canals and major equipment. The replacement cost of these assets was estimated at $3.7 billion in 1988-89. In the same year CPS spent approximately $62 million on their maintenance.

11.52 At the time of our 1983 audit, CPS was at an early stage of introducing its Maintenance Management System (MMS). Currently, MMS is the main system used by CPS to standardize maintenance quality and estimate maintenance resource needs. Its primary objective is to help sites efficiently maintain their fixed assets in their as-constructed condition. The concepts underlying MMS are well established and have been proven in practice in other organizations.

Under-use of the maintenance management system is impeding efficiency improvement

11.53 The Canadian Parks Service uses MMS in a way that obscures its primary objective. The full potential of MMS is not being realized because its use is oriented toward budget justification and spending accountability but not toward improving the efficiency of maintenance functions.

11.54 Few system-wide reviews of maintenance functions have been conducted. This has made it difficult to refine standards and improve the data base supporting MMS. Measures of system-wide performance for specific maintenance functions (e.g. grass cutting) are not generally available in CPS. Detailed performance results are not summarized and analyzed in any meaningful way.

11.55 Some sites have improved the performance of specific maintenance functions. Even at the site level, however, it is difficult to determine whether a site has improved its overall maintenance efficiency. Also, management has not used successful MMS experiences at some sites to encourage efficiency improvements at other sites.

11.56 Efforts to improve maintenance methods are not concentrated and co-ordinated. Except for the maintenance of vehicles and mobile equipment, regional headquarters generally do not devote resources to monitoring and improving the performance of maintenance functions at sites.

11.57 The Canadian Parks Service should develop within MMS the capability to monitor the efficiency of sites and maintenance functions.

Canadian Parks Service response: The capability to monitor the efficiency of sites and maintenance functions through performance reporting and analysis will be reviewed and, where feasible, improved.

Inability to review and assess the relationship between asset performance and level of maintenance

11.58 The performance of an asset is affected by a number of factors, including its design, how it is used, its level of maintenance, and climatic conditions. Historical information on these factors is not compiled by CPS in a way that facilitates review and understanding of the relationship between asset performance and level of maintenance. As a consequence, CPS lacks essential data to support life-cycle cost management of its assets.

11.59 The Canadian Parks Service should compile relevant summary data pertaining to asset performance in a manner suitable for periodic review and evaluation of maintenance policy and practice.

Canadian Parks Service response: With the increased emphasis on performance reporting it will be possible to retrieve asset information relating to the cost of maintenance per year and the history of maintenance work performed by year.

Overestimation of maintenance resource needs

11.60 The Canadian Parks Service uses MMS, with its asset inventory and national maintenance standards, to forecast aggregate maintenance resource needs. Total funding needs generated this way are 20 to 25 percent higher than funds allocated by Treasury Board. For 1988-89 the difference was about $17 million. Senior management feels that the levels of expenditure on maintenance activities have not kept pace with the needs of the asset base. Inadequate maintenance is one factor which may cause an asset to deteriorate more quickly than normal. The relationship, however, between an asset's maintenance history, its physical condition and its rehabilitation requirements is difficult to quantify.

11.61 We looked for, but did not find, sufficient evidence to conclude that the level of maintenance spending has led to premature deterioration of assets. We observed some assets that were in disrepair, but in most of these cases maintenance was being withheld because these assets were at the end of their working lives. The current condition of the assets we observed (confirmed by a consultant's report commissioned by CPS) suggests that current maintenance expenditure levels are within the appropriate range.

11.62 The structure and use of the current MMS overestimates maintenance resource needs. The national condition standards for certain assets are higher than needed at some sites. Also, some sites consistently exceed the national productivity standards for certain maintenance functions.

11.63 The Canadian Parks service should:

• require sites to base their maintenance funding needs on their own proven performance data; and
• instruct sites to support requested changes in maintenance funding levels from prior years with explicit references to site programs and specific assets, and to describe the expected consequences of not receiving the amounts requested.

Canadian Parks Service response: As part of the operational planning exercise, site managers will be required to calculate their maintenance resource needs by using the maintenance standards in line with their local conditions and past experience.

For all requests for additional funding, site managers will be required to identify the asset or facility on which work is to be performed and its replacement value, to provide a description of the work to be performed, with an accurate estimate of the cost, and the impact of not performing the work.

Potential problems in recapitalization funding

11.64 Recapitalization is the rehabilitation or replacement of an asset or major component of an asset to achieve an acceptable service condition without changing its basic function or capacity. The distinction between maintenance spending and recapitalization spending is not well defined in CPS.

11.65 There are some preliminary indications, based on a consultant's study done for CPS in 1987, that the level of recapitalization funding could become a problem in the future. The study points out that this is particularly true for roads and bridges because many have reached the point in their life-cycle where major rehabilitation work is required. We feel that these potential problems can only be addressed by considering each asset's recapitalization needs in terms of its maintenance history and intended use.

11.66 The Canadian Parks Service should:

• base short-term recapitalization funding projections on individual asset requirements identified by site; and
• clarify the distinction between items of maintenance and recapitalization spending.

Canadian Parks Service response: Through its Project Initiation and Planning System, the Canadian Parks Service, has for some time, based short term recapitalization funding needs on individual asset requirements, by site. However, due to insufficient capital resources all of the "high" priority recapitalization projects have not been addressed.

As part of the comprehensive review of maintenance standards the distinction between maintenance and recapitalization spending will be clarified.

11.67 At the time of our audit CPS was considering the development of an Assets Management Process (AMP) in place of the Assets Management Information System (AMIS). AMP is intended to provide information for managing assets throughout their complete life cycle by employing an improved MMS with a yet-to-be-developed recapitalization management process.

Managing the Efficient Use of Human Resources

11.68 This project dealt with the efficiency achieved by CPS in the use of part of its labour force. It focussed on:

• the extent to which service quality had been maintained during a period of resource constraint; and
• the extent to which CPS minimizes organizational layering, overhead and administrative burdens and redundancy.

11.69 For 1988-89 CPS had 4,678 authorized person-years, including seasonal staff, to meet the requirements of a reported 28 million visitors annually. The approximate person-year distribution was as follows: 11 percent at Headquarters, 17 percent in regional offices, and 72 percent at the field level (including district offices, parks and sites).

11.70 The total of person-years used by CPS in 1987-88 was relatively unchanged from our audit five years earlier. However, factors existed that placed the organization under resource constraint during the intervening years. Two of the primary factors were:

• operation and maintenance budgets, in 1984-85 dollars, did not change significantly; and
• during this period CPS added five new national parks to the system.

11.71 Our audit focussed on the following components of CPS:

• Visitor Services and Interpretation functions in both National Parks and National Historic Parks and Sites;
• Finance and Administration; and
• National Historic Parks and Sites Headquarters functions.

11.72 Visitor Services and Interpretation. The Visitor Services and Interpretation activities exist at all three levels of the organization (Headquarters, regions and sites) for both natural and historic parks. In some instances these functions have been grouped under a single heading: Visitor Activities. In 1987-88, about 922 Visitor Activities person-years comprised approximately 20 percent of CPS' total person-years.

11.73 Interpretation involves education programs designed to increase visitor appreciation and enjoyment of Canada's heritage resources. The activity is delivered through park or site interpreters and non-personal interpretation projects such as automated audio-visual programs, radio presentations, exhibits, signs or publications and messages to the general public. Visitor Services involves the provision of direct services to the public, including park gate attendants, campground attendants, lifeguards at swimming pools, and counter staff at information centres.

Lack of adequate information to efficiently manage visitor services activities

11.74 As identified in our 1983 audit, CPS did not have the information base needed to support the efficient management of Visitor Services activities. Although a number of initiatives were in progress, these are not yet providing regular efficiency and productivity reports for management.

11.75 Two examples of initiatives intended, ultimately, to improve the quality of information available relating to visitor services are the Visitor Activities Management Process (VAMP), and the Management Information Framework (MIF). Neither system is yet fully developed. Without appropriate information it is difficult for CPS to assess the efficiency of the Visitor Services and Interpretation Activity.

Decline in service is linked to resource constraints

11.76 The Canadian Parks Service has operated for a number of years under conditions of resource constraint. In the three-year period prior to 1983-84, CPS reduced its strength by approximately 200 person-years. Since then, total person-years have remained relatively constant while management of the program has expanded through the addition of five new parks.

11.77 The Canadian Parks Service has no comprehensive measure of visitor satisfaction. Therefore, the impact of this program expansion on the quality of visitor experiences is not well measured. Nonetheless, reports of comments made during public sessions and letters from the public point to a decline in service. Comments by CPS management in planning documents, and other information sources, also indicate a decline in the quality and extent of service being provided. This apparent decline is often linked by CPS to the reduction in person-year resources.

11.78 Where CPS is required to make resourcing decisions which will reduce the quality and level of service, management must be in a position to estimate the subsequent impact on park visitors. We do not believe management is receiving the information needed to assess these impacts.

11.79 The Canadian Parks Service should implement information systems that provide measures of service quality and visitor satisfaction. This information should be used as input to resource allocation decisions.

Canadian Parks Service response: The Canadian Parks Service has recognized this need and is developing performance indicators for service quality and visitor satisfaction which will be used in making resource allocation decisions.

Opportunities to increase efficiency

11.80 We believe that there are opportunities to reduce person-years in overhead and support functions that will not have a direct impact on service quality and availability. These opportunities could include combining Visitor Services and Interpretation units at regions and sites. Also, CPS could determine whether alternative staffing methods would be appropriate for certain permanent positions within parks that essentially receive most of their visitors during the peak summer period. We recognize that there may be a need for some positions on a year-round basis.

11.81 Future resource reallocation initiatives should pay appropriate attention to opportunities to reduce the person-years involved in indirect and overhead functions and their reallocation to operational areas.

Canadian Parks Service response: Initiatives in this regard have begun with the result that the former separate positions of Chief, Interpretation and Chief, Visitor Services have been combined and reclassified in four regional offices and in several national parks. Reductions to our overhead costs (though not person-years) may be available through proposed changes to the service agreement between the Canadian Parks Service and the Canadian Government Exhibition and Audio-Visual Centre.

11.82 Finance and Administration. The Finance and Administration function is responsible for the following comptrollership activities at all three levels of the organization: finance; administration; contracts; materiel management; program planning; and informatics. The DOE Corporate Finance and Administration organization represents a fourth level. Functional leadership is provided from CPS Headquarters to the regional offices and to the field. A total of 691 person-years (14 percent of total CPS person-years) were involved in this function in 1987-88.

11.83 Our audit approach in this organizational component was to determine whether conditions in CPS are such that methodologies used in both the private and public sector to identify productivity improvements and savings opportunities in support organizations could be applied. Typically, the application of these methodologies, which include workload measurement, organizational streamlining, practice and procedure rationalization and simplification can result in savings opportunities of about 10 to 20 percent of person-years and the related payroll costs.

11.84 Our review of CPS Finance and Administration indicates that a potential for savings exists for the following reasons:

• Since 1983-84, total person-years used by these functions have remained relatively constant at 691, or 14 percent of CPS resources in 1987-88.
• In 1987-88 Finance and Administration person-years, as a proportion of total regional staff (including regional headquarters, districts, areas and sites), varied across the regions from 11.9 percent to 15.1 percent.
• There are permanent year-round Finance and Administration positions at some parks which receive most of their visitors during the peak summer period.
• Organizations are characterized by small operational units. At the regional offices we visited, the average number of staff for which each supervisor was responsible was 3.5.
• In the Ontario regional office, a recent assessment of Finance and Administration processes and practices, including workload measures, identified opportunities for reallocating person-years from accounting operations, contracting and word processing to other areas. These improvement opportunities were within the range previously noted in paragraph 11.83.
• In the past five years there have been significant increases in the use of computer technology within these functions.

11.85 Taken together, we believe these points indicate that opportunities exist to streamline and consolidate Finance and Administration organizations, and to match resources more appropriately to workload and service requirements, thereby improving productivity.

11.86 We believe these opportunities could be realized primarily through reorganization, improved methods and procedures, elimination of unnecessary tasks, modified service levels and resource planning based on workload measurement.

11.87 To ensure that any changes take into consideration the sensitivities of everyone affected, and that ideas and opportunities for improvement are fully identified and explored, managers and staff at all levels should be involved in any initiatives undertaken in this area.

11.88 The Canadian Parks Service should undertake a comprehensive assessment of improvement opportunities within Finance and Administration that would involve all levels of staff and ensure that employee sensitivities are considered.

Canadian Parks Service response: Much work has been done in this area over the past few years and will continue.

11.89 National Historic Parks and Sites. The National Historic Parks and Sites (NHPS) Directorate is located at Headquarters. It provides functional leadership to the regions and field operations. It also provides direct services that are separate from the field operations. For example, the Architectural History Branch is responsible for implementing the Act for the Protection of Heritage Railway Stations (Bill C-205, 1988). It has also been assigned responsibilities associated with Canada's signing of the World Heritage Convention. About 205 person-years are allocated to the NHPS Directorate at Headquarters; this allocation represents a decrease from 1983-84 of 33 person-years (14 percent).

Improvements in project management and functional leadership

11.90 Since our 1983 audit, progress has been made in the areas of project management, functional leadership and co-ordination with policy directives. For example, the process for allocating resources to research projects in the Archaeological Research Branch considers the priority assigned to each project. Also, the responsibilities of functional managers are now defined and communicated more appropriately. Initiatives have been taken to co-ordinate policy with the National Parks Directorate. For instance, policy planning and direction on co-operating associations have been combined.

11.91 In our opinion, NHPS Directorate has made identifiable progress toward improved organizational efficiency and effectiveness since 1983.

Managing Revenue and Cost Recovery

There is little incentive to increase fee revenues

11.92 In 1988-89 CPS generated $37.7 million in revenues as follows:

	(millions of dollars)
Entrance fees	7.9
Visitor services (camping, swimming, etc.)	11.4
Land lease and concessions	12.4
Other	6.0
	37.7

11.93 CPS states it has little incentive to seek innovative means to augment existing revenues or generate new sources. All revenues accrue to the Consolidated Revenue Fund, but CPS must absorb the costs of initiating and implementing revenue generating activities. At the time of our audit CPS was examining with the Treasury Board various ways to solve this dilemma.

Foregone revenues

11.94 The Canadian Parks Service has indicated that the time required to get fee changes through the approval process can be as long as 18 months. This restricts management's ability to react quickly to market conditions. The fee approval process requires extensive reviews and approvals within and outside CPS. At the time of our audit there was no formal tracking system to monitor progress and warn senior management of delays in the approval process. The Canadian Parks Service estimates that foregone revenues resulting from delays in the approval of fee changes were $700,000 for 1988-89.

11.95 The Canadian Parks Service should implement a monitoring system for the fee approval process and, in so far as it has control over the process, take corrective action to ensure that fee changes are approved on a timely basis.

Canadian Parks Service response: The Canadian Parks Service has no control over major components of the regulatory process and therefore cannot react directly to observed delays in all cases. However, the Canadian Parks Service will implement a monitoring system for the fee approval process, with a view to reducing internal delays. In addition, representations will be made to the central agencies involved in driving the process to ensure that timely corrective measures are applied whenever the tracking system warns of delays.

Opportunities exist to increase revenues

11.96 Entrance fees to national parks have not changed since 1986-87, and no fee increases are proposed for the 1989-90 season. Similarly, entrance fees to national historic parks have not been changed since 1985-86. However, fee changes are proposed for two historic parks for the 1989-90 season.

11.97 Entrance fees are charged at only five national historic parks. In 1987-88 there were at least six others, each of which reported more than 100,000 visits, for which there were no entrance fees. Five of these six were included in a 1985 internal report, "Entry Fees for National Historic Parks and Sites", which identified nine additional historic parks as prime candidates for the introduction of entrance fees. Since that time only one of the nine has implemented fees. To take a broader view, entrance fees for 25 historic parks were discussed at a 1987 Program Management Committee meeting, and a decision to levy fees was delayed pending Treasury Board approval of some form of revenue sharing. The Canadian Parks Service is currently preparing a proposal on the possibility of introducing entrance fees at more historic sites in 1991.

11.98 The Canadian Parks Service should ensure that fees are charged at all sites where it is appropriate to do so.

Canadian Parks Service response: A process has been developed and approved to ensure that user fees will be introduced at all national historic sites where it is appropriate to do so.

The costs of all townsite services are not recovered

11.99 Our 1983 audit observed that CPS did not have adequate accounting systems in place to support full cost recovery for specific services provided. This has now been remedied.

Improvements in some management planning and control systems are needed to increase economy and efficiency of operations and to ensure that both management and Parliament have adequate information on results.

11.100 The Canadian Parks Service charges residents of townsites within the national parks for sewage, water, garbage and street works services. However, other services -- such as fire protection, recreation and bylaw enforcement -- are provided without specific charges to residents.

11.101 The Canadian Parks Service should implement cost recovery for townsite services such as fire protection, recreation and bylaw enforcement which are not currently subject to specific charges.

Canadian Parks Service response : The Canadian Parks Service will review the feasibility of implementing cost recovery for these services; however, the current National Parks Act does not provide the necessary legislative authority.

Billing errors due to poor internal controls

11.102 Although the billings process was not part of our audit scope, we noted a case where billings were understated by $170,000. As a result the Canadian Parks Service initiated an audit and identified an additional $322,000 in understated billings. The Service has billed for these amounts and we have been informed that only $151,000 remains unpaid.

Managing Informatics

Speedy deployment of office automation technology

11.103 Before 1983, CPS was relatively unsophisticated in its use of computer technology. Data processing activities were restricted to systems which had been in operation since CPS joined DOE in 1979.

11.104 The Canadian Parks Service became involved in the Department of Communications' Office Communications Systems program in 1983. Now its major focus for informatics is the Departmental Office Technology System (DOTS). This initiative is in the last year of a $16 million, four-year program that will see 1,200 DOTS terminals installed across the country. This will provide access to standard office automation functions such as electronic mail, word processing, spreadsheets and, eventually, to local, regional and national data bases.

11.105 In our opinion, the most significant benefits -- justifying current expenditures -- will be obtained when local, regional and national applications are installed. An internal study is under way to determine the total additional office automation and application needs.

Lack of a long-range informatics strategy and problems in project management

11.106 Major informatics initiatives, involving expenditures of at least $24 million over a four-year period from 1985, have been developed without a long-range informatics strategy or plan. A long-range plan would have defined a technology strategy and specified how it would support program objectives and management and user information needs. It would have provided a better foundation for the development of major systems. It could also have reduced project development and management problems such as those encountered in CPS' Management Information Framework (MIF) and Asset Management Information System (AMIS) projects, both of which will suffer from extensive time overruns from original schedules. For example, the estimated date for completion of MIF, which was started in 1985, was to be 1989 and is now scheduled for 1992-93. There was no scheduled completion date for AMIS (now the Assets Management Process, AMP) at the time of our audit.

11.107 The Canadian Parks Service should develop and implement a plan for a long-range informatics strategy. This should fully define the projected direction for informatics, as well as objectives and priorities over a five-year period.

Canadian Parks Service response: The informatics strategy/long-range plan is being developed. It will provide a longer focus than the current annual planning.

Information for Parliament

Inadequate information for Parliament and management

11.108 We believe that Part III of the 1988-89 Estimates for the Parks program presents a satisfactory picture of the program's expenditure plans. However, results information is insufficient because CPS' systems are not adequate to provide reliable program performance information to management or to Parliament. Parliament is therefore hampered in its ability to effectively review program expenditures.