Auditor General of Canada
Encyclopedia
The role of the Auditor General of Canada is to aid accountability
Accountability
Accountability is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of account-giving...

 by conducting independent audit
Financial audit
A financial audit, or more accurately, an audit of financial statements, is the verification of the financial statements of a legal entity, with a view to express an audit opinion...

s of federal
Federation
A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government...

 government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 operations. The Auditor General reports to the House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

, not to the government. These audits provide members of Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

 with objective information
Information
Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...

 to help them examine the government's activities and hold it to account.

Office

Auditors General are appointed by the Governor General
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

 in Council (cabinet
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...

) for 10 year terms during good behaviour. However, removal of an Auditor General requires the approval of both the House of Commons and Senate
Canadian Senate
The Senate of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the House of Commons, and the monarch . The Senate consists of 105 members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister...

. Auditors General can only serve one term and cannot be reappointed to the position.

On November 4, 2011, the Prime Minister appointed Michael Ferguson, former Auditor General of the province of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, as Auditor General of Canada, effective November 28, 2011.

The previous Auditor General, Sheila Fraser, was appointed on May 31, 2001. She can likely lay claim to being the most popular Auditor General of Canada of all time, being voted 66th place in The Greatest Canadian
The Greatest Canadian
Officially launched on April 5, 2004, The Greatest Canadian was a television program series by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to determine who is considered to be the greatest Canadian of all time, at least among those who watched and participated in the program...

.

The Office of the Auditor General of Canada was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers
Canada's Top 100 Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places in Canada to work. First held in 1999, the project aims to single out the employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional working conditions and progressive human resources policies. Winners are...

" by Mediacorp Canada Inc. five years in a row (2008-2012), and was featured in Maclean's
Maclean's
Maclean's is a Canadian weekly news magazine, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events.-History:Founded in 1905 by Toronto journalist/entrepreneur Lt.-Col. John Bayne Maclean, a 43-year-old trade magazine publisher who purchased an advertising agency's in-house...

newsmagazine.

History

The role of Auditor General was introduced in 1878.

In 1971 the Auditor General's Office hosted VII INCOSAI, the seventh triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions
The International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions is a worldwide affiliation of governmental entities. Its members are the Chief Financial Controller/Comptroller General Offices of nations.INTOSAI was founded in 1953 in Havana, Cuba...

.

List of Auditors General of Canada

Auditor General Appointed Departed
John Langton
John Langton (Canadian politician)
John Langton was a Canadian businessman, political figure and civil servant.He was born in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England in 1808 and studied at Trinity College, Cambridge. He emigrated to Upper Canada in 1833 and settled near Peterborough. He worked for a time in the timber trade...

1867 1878
John Lorn McDougall
John Lorn McDougall
John Lorn McDougall was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He represented Renfrew South in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1867 to 1871 and in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal from 1869 to 1872 and from 1874 to 1878.He was born in [Golden Lake, Ontario], Upper Canada...

 
1878 1905
John Fraser
John Fraser (Canadian)
John Fraser was Auditor General of Canada and is also a cousin of the grandfather of former Auditor General Sheila Fraser....

1905 1919
Edward Davenport Sutherland  1919 1923
Georges Gonthier  1924 1939
Robert Watson Sellar  1940 1959
Andrew Maxwell Henderson  1960 1973
James J. Macdonell  1973 1980
Michael H. Rayner (acting) 1980 1981
Kenneth M. Dye
Kenneth M. Dye
Kenneth M. Dye, MBA was the Auditor General of Canada from 1981-1991, under both the Trudeau and Mulroney administrations.Trained as a chartered accountant at Simon Fraser University, and articled as a clerk with the firm of Grant Thornton Chartered Accountants, of British Columbia...

 
1981 1991
Denis Desautels  1991 2001
Sheila Fraser
Sheila Fraser
Sheila Fraser served as Auditor General of Canada from 2001 to 2011.Ms. Fraser was born in Dundee, Quebec, Canada. She earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1972. She then became a chartered accountant in 1974 and FCA in 1994...

 
2001 2011
John Wiersema
John Wiersema
John Edward Wiersema was the interim Auditor General of Canada. He was appointed in May 2011 by the Prime Minister as for a mandate of six months after Sheila Fraser retired from the position.Prior to his appointment, Mr. Wiersema was Deputy Auditor General....

 (interim)
2011 2011
Michael Ferguson
Michael Ferguson (Auditor General)
Michael Ferguson was appointed Auditor General of Canada, effective November 28, 2011. Previous to this post, he served as the deputy minister of finance and secretary to the board of management for the province of New Brunswick.-Career:...

 
2011 present

See also

  • Auditor General Act
    Auditor General Act
    The Auditor General Act is an Act of Parliament respecting the office of the Auditor General of Canada and sustainable development monitoring and reporting.-External links:*...

  • Financial Administration Act
  • Parliament of Canada
    Parliament of Canada
    The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

  • Auditor General of British Columbia
    Auditor General of British Columbia
    The Auditor General of British Columbia is an independent Officer of the Legislature of British Columbia, responsible for conducting audits of the government reporting entity which consists of ministries, Crown corporations, and other government organizations such as universities, colleges, school...


External links

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