Roles and Duties
Roles and Duties:
1.1 Responsibilities
The Accord Committee is responsible for the implementation and
management of environmental sustainable programming agreements under
the jurisdiction of the COESA Accord. Its role within COESA is to
provide direction and determine the overall Green Plan objectives,
and to approve financial allocations and reallocations between Green
Plan program areas. Terms of Reference for the Committee are presented
in Section 6.3 of the COESA Accord (COESA = Canada-Ontario Environmental
Sustainability Accord).
1.2 Members
Members of the Accord Committee represent all those federal and
provincial departments which are involved with the issue of environmental
sustainability as it relates to the Ontario agri-food sector. The
Accord Committee consists of eight members representing the following
federal departments: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Environment
Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada; and the following provincial
ministries: Agriculture and Food, Environment, and Natural Resources.
To view a list of Committee members and their respective branches,
click here.
1.3 Duties/Procedures
The Accord Committee agreed that existing programs will continue
to be administered by the existing Committees. Starting with the
Land Management Assistance Program and continuing in the future,
one Agreement Management Committee (AMC) will be formed to manage
and administer all government programs which come under the Canada-Ontario
Environmental Sustainability Accord. Accord Meeting #4, Jan 30/92.
Accountability always rests with the Minister of the funding
agency. That Minister must, therefore, retain ultimate authority
over his resources. At the same time, inter-agency management is
needed to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in complementary
and joint programming. Accord Meeting #5, March 12th/92.
Material to be discussed at Accord meetings should be provided
to members in advance of the meeting; this is to allow staff adequate
time to review and prepare comments. In the event that the Accord
Committee agrees that information generated by the AMC should be
sent to the Advisory Committee, it should only go to the Advisory
Committee after review by the Accord co-chairs. Accord Meeting #7,
May 13/92.
Project/program approval process:
The Accord Committee approves action items and delegates activities
to the Agreement Management Committee who recommends a level of
detail for decision documents. An executive summary is a necessity.
Any decision required must be clearly outlined in the decision document.
Accord Meeting #9, August 6/92.
In light of recent government budget cutbacks, the Accord Committee
will be reviewing the Green Plan Budget each meeting. Accord Meeting
#12, May 3/93.
The Accord Committee delegated the responsibility for reviewing
and approving the Statement of Work (SOW) to the Agreement Management
Committee (AMC). AMC Meeting #14, May 20/92.
The current and future roles of the COESA Accord, Advisory, and
Agreement Management Committees were examined by the Accord Committee
in a lengthy discussion. Of the points raised, it is suffice to
note the following:
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Members were in agreement that the Accord Committee should
operate at a strategic, department to department level, and
should approve program financial resources only at the highest
level, i.e. Canada-Ontario Agreement level;
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It is within the authority of the Agreement Management Committee
to manage programs/projects and make financial decisions at
these levels;
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The role of the Advisory Committee, to provide rural Ontario
and other non-government groups a say in what programs are funded
and their delivery, is a valuable one;
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Now that most Green Plan Programs are underway, a joint meeting
of the Accord/Advisory/AMC Committees is in order to evaluate
what has been done and what needs to be done; and
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These and other issues regarding the roles and department
involvements need to be mulled over. To this end a position
paper should be drafted to focus and direct any further discussions
on committee roles.
There was general consensus that the Accord Committee should maintain
a strategic focus and the Agreement Management Committee to be charged
with the responsibility and authority to run programs. Accord Meeting
#14, January 13, 1994.
2.1 Responsibilities
Formed by the Accord Committee to review Green Plan information
and identify any programming gaps which may exist, and, based on
current information, prioritize what should be done.
The AMC recommends to the Accord Committee a course of action
to follow (identifies the possible processes which could be employed
to implement programming for each of the ten identified issues).
At the request and the direction of the Accord Committee, the
AMC supervises the implementation and evaluation of environmental
programs.
2.2 Members
The Accord Committee's participating departments and ministries
each identified one staff member for appointment to the AMC. To
view a current list of AMC members, please click here.
2.3 Duties/Procedures
AMC is to approve all draft requests for proposals (RFP's) and
report their decisions to the Accord Committee. Accord Meeting #9
August 6/92.
At the January 30th, 1992 Accord Committee meeting it was decided
to form a "shadow" committee to assist in the prioritization of
the Kempenfelt options. There is a need to establish priorities
and a process for setting criteria and guidelines for Green Plan
funding. The AMC was chosen to prioritize the options from the Kempenfelt
conference and make recommendations to the Accord Committee, which
would then seek advice on these recommendations from the Advisory
Committee. AMC Meeting. #1, February 20/92.
AMC are to review and provide recommendations on project proposals
to the Accord Committee. This process will require that an AMC meeting
be held prior to any Accord meeting. The role of AMC vis à vis contracts
and agreements signed between Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and
a third party for the delivery of programs under LMAP was discussed.
These documents will be available for review by the AMC and Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada appreciates receiving any input. However, because
the time frame for signing is often very short, it is not always
be possible to circulate the contracts prior to the signing. It
was agreed that having the contracts circulated for information
purposes would assist AMC members and their agencies in maintaining
an overview of farm environmental initiatives. It was suggested
that the levels of funding be deleted from the circulated copy if
confidentiality is a problem. AMC Meeting #4, May 21/92.
2.4 Communications
An Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada communications officer is
to become a non-voting member of the AMC. The officer will work
in consultation with, and report to, the AMC, and work closely with
the designated communication specialist within each of the member
agencies of the Accord. The individual specialists will identify
technical experts within the agencies to assist the Agriculture
and Agri-Food Canada lead in developing the appropriate information.
This material will be reviewed by technical experts prior to its
release. Minutes of AMC meetings will be finalized and two copies
will be reprinted for signature by the AMC co-chairs. These copies
will be placed in the appropriate Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
and OMAFRA files. The Accord Committee and AMC members will not
receive copies of the final minutes.
3.1 Responsibilities
The Advisory Committee was formed to provide advice to the Accord
Committee on environmental sustainability priorities and programs.
3.2 Members
The Committee is comprised of interested stakeholders representing
the diverse interests involved in the environmental sustainability
of the agri-food business, producers, environmental groups, consumers,
educational institutions, and resource interests.
From this group one or two members of the Advisory Committee
are to be identified to represent Ontario on a National Advisory
Committee which will provide practical advice to the federal and
provincial Ministers of Agriculture.
The Advisory Committee was established by the Accord Committee
in accordance with section 6.4 of the COESA Accord. To view a list
of current members, please click here.
3.3 Duties/Procedures
Members of the Accord Committee agreed that the Advisory Committee's
terms of reference should be rewritten to more clearly detail its
role in light of the principles identified ie. the Advisory Committee
should provide advice to the Accord Committee on the feasibility,
sustainability, and accountability of suggested programming and
strategic plans. Regarding rural conservation clubs, it is not the
Advisory Committee's role to select projects for funding but rather
to provide comments and suggestions for program details and the
implementation process. The Advisory Committee will prepare recommendations
on specific programs at the request of the Accord Committee. Accord
Meeting #3, November 20/91.
Members of the Advisory Committee have expressed concerns about
the loose nature of the Advisory Committee's role, the Advisory
Committee's relationship to the AMC, "rubber stamping" proposals,
and the need for the Advisory Committee to play a part in reviewing,
monitoring, and evaluating various COESA programs and projects.
The development of a workplan was mentioned. Advisory Meeting #9,
August 6/92.
The Accord Committee is in agreement with the Advisory Committee's
recommendation that the Accord members prepare an annual workplan
to guide their activities. This document will be an adjunct to the
Committee's existing terms of reference which speaks to its specific
role. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and OMAFRA are to initiate,
with the Advisory Committee, the development of its first workplan.
A draft document which outlines the Advisory Committee's future
directions is to be presented to the Accord Committee. Accord Meeting
# 9, Sept. 14/92.
Concerning its role and activities, the Advisory Committee agreed
that it has been selected to provide advice to the Accord Committee.
The Accord Committee may choose to accept this advice or reject
it. The AMC on the other hand is to do the bidding of the Accord
Committee. The Advisory Committee is experiencing frustration regarding
the synchronization of their activities with the AMC. Advisory Meeting
# 10, Oct. 29/92.
The Advisory Committee felt that it required more direction from
the Accord Committee on its role and responsibilities before it
could complete a workplan for its activities over the next year.
A draft operating procedures statement prepared by Dr. Freeman McEwen
was provided for information. The Advisory Committee should provide
advice to the Accord Committee on those matters/issues on which
its comments are requested. However, this does not specifically
prohibit the Advisory Committee from providing recommendations/advice
on other matters about which it feels the Accord Committee should
be advised. More specific comments by the Accord Committee on the
role of the Advisory Committee are to be channelled through Mike
Hicknell for distribution back to the Advisory Committee. Accord
co-chairs will attend the December 15th meeting of the Advisory
Committee to present their thoughts and direction on the current
and future role of the Advisory Committee. Accord Meeting # 10,
Nov 13/92.
As a result of federal funding cutbacks, at least 10% of current
funding will be cut from most Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada programs.
For example, Green Plan funding will be cut by at least 10% in both
1993-94 and 1994-95. Future cuts may be deeper and affect programming
beyond this two year cut. Budget cuts will also have an impact on
other areas of programming (for example, future Advisory Committee
meetings). No monetary commitments beyond January can be made pending
clarification of the budget cuts. The second issue discussed was
the membership of the Advisory Committee. The Accord Committee's
recent decision to increase the membership of the Committee was
based on its belief that the Advisory Committee should have a broader
and more balanced base of members. The Accord Committee remains
resolute in its determination that members of the Advisory Committee
are appointed as individuals and not as representatives of an organization.
Advisory Meeting # 11, Dec. 15/92.
John Lounds and Jim Magee were chosen to represent the Advisory
Committee on the Wildlife/Wetlands/Woodlands Coordinating Committee.
Advisory Meeting #12, April 20, 1993.
During a review of the previous minutes a discussion ensued about
the reasons for members' selection on the Advisory Committee and
the role of the Advisory Committee. Members discussed the politics
of their nomination, i.e. who did they represent ?, the actions
taken by the Accord Committee on several of their recent recommendations
and the issues they were asked or not asked to comment on. There
was also discussion on the amount of funding which is to be provided
to support the Environmental Farm Planning initiative. For example,
members were concerned that they had not been provided with the
funding figures which were finally negotiated with the Coalition.
It was requested that a review of the files be conducted to identify
where and when the funding budgeted for EFP was identified. Advisory
Meeting #14, January 7, 1994.
Prepared: Tue 18 July, 1995
Last Revised:
Wednesday, May 11, 2011 04:19:46 PM
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