US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA569

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000569 
 
SIPDIS 
 
For State ECA/PE/C/WHA/EAP Laverne Johnson, Ray Harvey; 
WHA/PDA Julie Greenblatt 
MONTREAL, TORONTO, VANCOUVER FOR PAO 
CALGARY FOR FIELD REP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OIIP, SCUL, OEXC, CA, American Fellow 
SUBJECT: American Fellow Diane MacLaren, Program Evaluation 
 
 
1.  Summary:  Diane MacLaren, Senior Manager with the 
Canadian Treasury Board Secretariat, participated in the new 
American Fellow Exchange Program September 15-December 15, 
2004.  (The American Fellow Exchange Program was announced 
at the Quebec Summit of the Americas in April, 2001).  In a 
debriefing with the Cultural Affairs Officer in Ottawa 
February 17, Ms. MacLaren reported that she found her 
internship with the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office 
of Financial Performance both professionally and personally 
rewarding, and she will share what she learned about 
accountability and transparency in U.S. government with her 
Canadian colleagues.  The post thanks the Office of Private 
Sector Programs, Partners of the Americas, and the 
Department of the Treasury for their roles in providing Ms. 
MacLaren, the first Canadian participation in the American 
Fellow Program, a successful exchange experience. End 
Summary. 
 
2.  In recruiting Canadian participants for the American 
Fellow Program of exchange of civil servants, the post 
worked with Canada's Public Service Commission Interchange 
Office to identify outstanding managers involved in issues 
of significance in the U.S.-Canada relationship, including 
border security and counterterrorism cooperation.  Nominee 
Ms. MacLaren, a senior manager at the Treasury Board 
Secretariat with responsibility for analysis and performance 
 
SIPDIS 
reporting on the Canadian government's public security and 
anti-terrorism programs, proposed an exchange that would 
enable her to observe and better understand the 
accountability and performance reporting work of U.S. 
counterparts.  The post and Ms. MacLaren suggested 
affiliation with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or 
the Office of Management and Budget's public security review 
division.  Although U.S. security restrictions prevented 
affiliation with either of these two departments, Partners 
of the Americas was able to arrange an internship for Ms. 
MacLaren at the Department of the Treasury's Office of 
Financial Performance. 
 
3.   Ms. MacLaren and her Department of the Treasury hosts 
outlined three objectives for her three-month internship: 
familiarizing herself with American performance measurement 
techniques and policies; familiarizing herself with American 
budget management methods, particularly with regard to 
security-related programs; and assisting with the 
development of the Department of the Treasury's performance 
and accountability report (PAR).  The exchange program more 
than met the grantee's expectations and provided her with 
first-hand insights into the U.S. budget and accountability 
process. 
 
4.  Among the highlights of her visit, Ms. MacLaren noted 
the opportunity to observe Office of Management and Budget 
2006 budget hearings at the White House, discussions with 
officials from several agencies on their respective 
approaches to performance management (e.g. she was impressed 
with the high OMB rating of State Department performance 
measurement efforts), the opportunity to work with the 
Department of the Treasury on their performance 
accountability report, and her production of a highlights 
report on the Treasury's budget submission, making it user- 
friendly and accessible to readers.  Through these 
activities, Ms. MacLaren gained an appreciation for the 
seriousness with which federal government agencies take 
accountability reporting and for the innovative approaches 
various agencies have taken to measure their performance. 
As do many Canadian visitors to the U.S., Ms. MacLaren 
gained an appreciation for the complexity of our system of 
government and its capacity to respond to a wide array of 
demands from various stakeholders.  Her newly acquired 
knowledge of the U.S. system and management approaches in 
its executive branch will be of tremendous benefit in her 
current work with the public security portfolio and in 
potential future jobs involving Canada-U.S. cooperation. 
While Ms. MacLaren was modest about her own contributions to 
her host agency, the post trusts that her Canadian 
perspectives and management contributions were helpful to 
her Treasury colleagues. 
 
5.  Personally, Ms. MacLaren reported that she found her 
Treasury colleagues and other interlocutors in federal 
agencies warm, helpful, and open.  She continues 
communication with a number of colleagues she met in 
Washington and plans a personal visit this spring. 
 
6.  Ms. MacLaren was quite pleased with the support provided 
by Partners of the Americas, with the lodging provided her 
in a convenient neighborhood of Washington, and with the 
overall logistics of her exchange program. 
 
7.  The post thanks  ECA/PE/C/WHA/EAP, Partners of the 
Americas, and the Department of the Treasury hosts for 
creating a unique and relevant exchange program for Ms. 
MacLaren. 
 
Cellucci