Finance
June 29, 2009
Provincial Community
Accounts Endorsed by Senate Committee
Newfoundland and Labrador�s system of
Community Accounts has been recognized and endorsed by the Standing
Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology in its final
report of the Senate Subcommittee on Population Health, A Healthy,
Productive Canada: A Determinant of Health Approach. The Honourable
Jerome Kennedy, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board,
said he is pleased that the senate committee is recommending
implementation of a Community Accounts system for all provinces that is
modeled after Newfoundland and Labrador�s successful system.
�Newfoundland and Labrador�s Community
Accounts has been recognized throughout the country and around the world
as an innovative information system that provides users at all levels
with a reliable source of community, regional, and provincial data,�
said Minister Kennedy. �Community Accounts allows users to access
information on key economic and social indicators, organized by
geography and data topic, providing users with information on the status
and progress of their communities and their regions from an economic and
social perspective.�
A public-wide, online data retrieval
system for locating, sharing and exchanging information related to the
province and its people, the Community Accounts system provides users
with a single comprehensive source of community, regional, and
provincial data that would normally not be readily available, too costly
to obtain, or too time consuming to retrieve and compile. Under this
structure, information can be retrieved according to 400 communities, 80
census consolidated subdivisions (local areas), 20 economic development
zones, and the province. Information can also be retrieved at the level
of Rural Secretariat regions, health authorities, school districts, and
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada regions.
The June 2009 report on population health
states: �It is the view of the Subcommittee that the Community Accounts
has been very successful in linking information about population health,
community well-being, and economic development. We are particularly
impressed by the progress achieved in Newfoundland and Labrador in the
implementation of a sound population health database infrastructure and
are pleased to see that Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have
adopted a similar database infrastructure model. We believe that such a
database is a key asset in the development and implementation of a
pan-Canadian population health policy. Therefore, the Subcommittee
recommends: That the Government of Canada support the development and
implementation of Community Accounts, modeled on the Newfoundland and
Labrador Community Accounts, in all provinces and territories.�
Over the past year pages of the Community
Accounts site have been viewed over 325,000 times from almost 40,000
users. To access Community Accounts, visit
www.communityaccounts.ca.
To view a copy of the final report of the Senate Subcommittee on
Population Health, visit
www.parl.gc.ca/40/2/parlbus/commbus/senate/Com-e/popu-e/subsite-jun09-e/Report_Home-e.htm
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Media contact:
Tansy Mundon
Director of Communications
Department of Finance
709-729-6830, 685-2646
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca
2009 06 29
10:20 a.m.
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