Regards sur l’expérience de la Commission de révision permanente des programmes au Québec

Abstract

This paper focuses on the work done by the Commission de révision permanente des programmes (CRPP) in Quebec. Based on a literature review, we present: 1) a description of the CRPP including the context surrounding its creation, its approach, the content of its reports as well as its recommendations; and 2) a portrait of the influence of the CRPP by exploring whether or not government decisions have taken its recommendations into account. The findings that emerge from our analysis lead us to conclude that the recommendations of the CRPP have not fully been implemented, but that they had an influence or a symbolic role in relation to the recent budget cuts undertaken by the government. They also contributed to the institutionalization of a new permanent spending review mechanism. In our discussion, we raise a number of questions, including the nature of the work of the CRPP and the linkage between review exercises and the evaluative function within government.