Abstract

In February 1999, the Report of the Panel on Accountability and Governance in the Voluntary Sector was released. The Panel, chaired by a former member of the House of Commons and leader of the New Democratic Party, Ed Broadbent, was formed at the instigation of the Voluntary Sector Roundtable. An unincorporated group of national organizations and coalitions formed in 1995, it stated purpose is to strengthen the voice of Canada's charitable voluntary sector. The Voluntary Sector Roundtable includes such organizations as the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy, Canadian Conference of the Arts, Community Foundations of Canada, United Way of Canada - Centraide Canada, and Volunteer Canada. The report therefore represents an initiative of the voluntary sector as opposed to a government initiative. It arose out of an awareness of the increased expectations of the public, governments and funders concerning the management of charitable resources.