Introduction – Charter Statements
An evaluation of Charter Statements was conducted, covering the period from fiscal years (FYs) 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. It examined the implementation of the Charter Statement legislative requirement, along with its continued relevance, effectiveness, and efficiency. This report provides an overview of the main findings as well as conclusions and recommendations.
Introduction
Purpose of the evaluation
This report presents the key findings and recommendations for the Evaluation of Charter Statements. The evaluation was undertaken as per the Department of Justice Canada’s (Justice) 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 Integrated Audit and Evaluation Plan and was conducted in accordance with the Treasury Board’s Policy on Results (2016).
Evaluation scope
The evaluation covered a period of five FYs, from 2019-2020 to 2023-2024. The scope of the evaluation was informed by a review of available information, as well as consultations with senior officials regarding key issues and questions of interest.
Given this is the first evaluation of Charter Statements, the implementation of this new legislative requirement was examined to provide evidence-based findings on the experience to date in tabling Charter Statements for every government bill, including successes and challenges. As such, the evaluation examined:
- The relevance of Charter Statements, particularly the range of needs they are expected to address;
- How the delivery of Charter Statements has been operationalized (e.g., roles and responsibilities, processes, collaborations, etc.);
- The effectiveness and efficiency as it relates to the achievement of results in an efficient manner.
Since Justice’s Human Rights Law Section (HRLS) leads the development of Charter Statements, the activities undertaken by this group were the main focus of the evaluation. The work and contribution of other groups within Justice, such as the Legislative Services Branch or the Legal Services Units, were also considered.
Evaluation Approach
Approach
The evaluation was designed to collect both quantitative and qualitative information supporting a comprehensive assessment of the process used to draft and coordinate Charter Statements, along with information on how they are used as part of public and Parliamentary debate on federal legislative initiatives. Gender-based analysis (GBA) plus considerations were also included in the design of the evaluation.
Methods
The following methods were used to address the evaluation questions:
- Document review
- Administrative data analysis
- Content analysis of parliamentary Hansard
- Interviews with internal and external stakeholders (n=33)
- Survey of non-parliamentarians (n=111, response rate of 18%)
- Case studies on three bills:
- Medical assistance in dying (C14, C-7, C-39)
- Administrative segregation (C-83)
- Changes to the Broadcasting Act (C-10, C-11)
*See Appendix A for more information on the methodology
Evaluation Questions
Relevance
- What continued need do Charter Statements address?
- How does the development of Charter Statements align with government and departmental priorities?
Design and Delivery
- To what extent is the design and delivery of Charter Statements working effectively?
Effectiveness
- To what extent have Charter Statements contributed to the openness and transparency of how the proposed government legislation engages rights and freedoms?
- To what extent have Charter Statements increased parliamentarians’ ability to consider the potential effects of the Charter when debating government bills?
- To what extent have Charter Statements encouraged greater awareness of human rights at all stages of the policy development process?
Efficiency
- To what extent has Justice developed Charter Statements in an efficient manner? Are there alternatives that would improve efficiency?
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