Evaluation of the Contraventions Act Program

Appendix B: Evaluation Matrix

Evaluation Matrix
Evaluation issues and questions Indicators Data sources
Relevance
1. How is the implementation of the Act and Fund aligning with federal priorities as they relate to statutory offences and official languages? How does it relate to the strategic priorities of the Department?
  • Department of Justice mandate and strategic objectives, including objectives related to the administration of justice
  • Canada’s priorities related to the administration of justice and official languages
  • Current capacity of federal departments to adequately enforce statutory offences

Document and file review

Interviews
2. Is the current range of statutory offences designated as contraventions adequate? Should it be expanded?
  • Current capacity of federal departments to adequately enforce statutory offences
  • Objectives of other federal departments as they relate to the designation of additional statutory offences as contraventions

Document and file review

Interviews
3. Is the Fund an appropriate mechanism to ensure the compliance with official language requirements outlined in the Contraventions Act?
  • Capacity of provincial governments and enforcement authorities to offer services in both official languages
  • Nature of challenges faced by enforcement authorities and provincial governments in implementing the Act

Document and file review

Interviews
4. How is the implementation of the Act and Fund aligning with the needs of enforcement authorities?
  • Nature of challenges faced by enforcement authorities
  • Access to required information and training
  • Adequacy of ticketing system

Document and file review

Interviews

Site visits
Performance — effectiveness
5. To what extent is the Act operational across Canada? What is the strategy of the Department in relation to jurisdictions where the Act is not operational?
  • Number of provincial schemes incorporated
  • Number of Contraventions Act agreements signed
  • Nature of challenges in expanding the implementation of the Act to all provinces

Document and file review

Interviews
6. What are the impacts of having the Act not operational in some provinces? Does this create legal risks?
  • Variations in the process and impact of having contraventions enforced through ticketing and other types of procedures
  • Expected impact on the rule of law

Document and file review

Interviews
7. What are the current patterns of offences relating to federal contraventions? Are federal offences designated as contraventions more readily enforced as a result of the Act?
  • Number of tickets issued
  • Types of contraventions covered by tickets issued to date
  • Variations in the number and types of federal statutory offences prosecuted

Document and file review

Site visits
8. What is the range of activities supported by the Fund to ensure the compliance with official language requirements under the Act? Are there any gaps that may impact the federal government’s ability to comply with these requirements?
  • Types of activities funded
  • Stakeholder opinions

Document and file review

Interviews

Site visits
9. Are enforcement authorities better equipped as a result of the implementation of the Act?
  • Directives and operational procedures to deal with federal statutory offences (designated or not as contraventions)
  • Access to required information and training

Document and file review

Interviews

Site visits
10. What impact, if any, has the implementation of the Act and Fund had on the court system?
  • Percentage of tickets relating to federal contraventions that are not challenged in court
  • Proportion of trials heard that relate to federal contraventions (as opposed to other types of federal or provincial offences)
  • Number of trials heard in the minority language

Document and file review

Interviews

Site visits
11. Are reports submitted by the provinces sufficient to meet the accountability requirements of the Department?
  • Extent and quality of reporting

Document and file review

Interviews
Performance — efficiency and economy
12. Do the Act and Fund provide a cost-effective approach to enforcing statutory offences designated as contraventions?
  • Overall federal costs associated with the implementation of the Act (including the Contraventions Act Fund)
  • Estimated provincial costs of processing federal statutory offences through the summary conviction process (as opposed to the ticketing system)

Document and file review

Interviews

Site visits
13. Does the Act provide a fairer approach to enforcing statutory offences designated as contraventions?
  • Procedural differences between the ticketing system and the summary conviction process
  • Avoided impact (social and economic) associated with a criminal record
  • Impact of imposing a reduced sentence

Document and file review

Interviews

Site visits
14. Are there any alternative approaches to achieving the Fund’s objectives in terms of implementing the language requirements of the Contraventions Act?
  • Stakeholder opinions

Interviews