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Setting A New Standard: A 7-Point Plan For Fairness

This fact sheet provides information on Revenue Canada's Fairness Initiative and the resulting report called Setting A New Standard: A 7-Point Plan For Fairness.

The Fairness Initiative

On March 18, 1998, the Minister of National Revenue, Herb Dhaliwal, launched the Fairness Initiative to obtain comments and suggestions from clients and staff on how Revenue Canada could enhance its fairness practices. The process included:

• consultations with various interest groups and departmental advisory committees;
• focus groups with Canadians from all walks of life;
• discussions with groups of Revenue Canada staff and managers; and
• independent research into the fairness practices of international customs and revenue administrations carried out by the Conference Board of Canada.

The Conference Board examined the findings of the extensive consultations and prepared a draft report that was discussed in a Fairness symposium held in October 1998 in Ottawa. The Symposium was attended by nearly 100 experts, stakeholder group representatives, and academics from all across Canada. Following the Symposium, the Conference Board produced a report called At the Heart of Fairness: Achieving Revenue Canada's Commitment to Fairness Through Service.

The report, Setting A New Standard: A 7-Point Plan For Fairness, outlines a series of specific actions that Revenue Canada will take to promote, maintain, and continuously enhance fairness in its dealings with clients and stakeholders. The seven actions are:

1. To develop a comprehensive guide on the rights of clients.
2. To publish standards for the services the Department provides.
3. To improve communications with clients.
4. To better equip Revenue Canada employees with the ability to respond to client needs.
5. To identify unclaimed credits, benefits, and overpayments for clients.
6. To provide clients with an opportunity to correct any omissions in their past dealings with the Department without penalty.
7. To do a better job applying the existing fairness provisions that have been instituted in the past.

Revenue Canada's Fairness Pledge

In addition to the seven actions, the 7-Point Plan also includes Our Fairness Pledge. The Pledge emphasizes Revenue Canada's commitment to fairness and commits the Department to

• accurate and understandable information
• consistency
• flexibility
• accountability for its actions on fairness
• timeliness
• impartiality
• client support

The Pledge complements the seven points presented in Setting A New Standard: A 7-Point Plan For Fairness and reflects the views of clients and Revenue Canada staff. Not only does it capture the spirit of the Fairness Initiative, it also builds on and reinforces the existing Declaration of Taxpayers Rights.

Implementing the 7-Point Plan

Both the Fairness Initiative and the 7-Point Plan highlight fairness as one of Revenue Canada's guiding principles. The consultations and research have shown that the Department's record on fairness is respected globally. Other countries have used Revenue Canada's current practices as a model in upgrading their own customs and revenue administrations.

Over the coming weeks, Revenue Canada will develop an implementation strategy for the 7-Point Plan. This implementation strategy includes the establishment of ongoing accountability measures.

Sources for more information

Copies of Setting A New Standard: A 7-Point Plan For Fairness and Our Fairness Pledge can be obtained by writing to:

Revenue Canada
Room 2202, 45 Sacre Coeur Blvd.
Hull QC K1A 0L5
or fax your request to (819) 953-0320

The 7-Point Plan is also available from the "What's new" page of Revenue Canada's Web site at /menu/EmenuBAA.html

The Conference Board of Canada's report, At the Heart of Fairness: Achieving Revenue Canada's Committee to Fairness Through Service, is available by writing to Revenue Canada at the address listed above; through a hotlink from Revenue Canada's Web site; or directly from the Conference Board of Canada's Web site at http://www.conferenceboard.ca

Date modified:

1998-03-01