Auditor General of Canada
Auditor General of Canada | |
---|---|
La vérificatrice générale du Canada | |
since June 3 2020 | |
Abbreviation | OAG |
Reports to | Parliament of Canada |
Nominator | Prime Minister of Canada |
Appointer | Governor in Council |
Term length | 10 years non-renewable |
Constituting instrument | Auditor General Act |
First holder | John Langton |
Salary | $334,500/year (Equal to that of a Puisne judge of the Supreme Court of Canada)[1][2][4] |
Website | www |
Bureau du verificauteur general du Canada | |
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1878 |
Headquarters | C.D. Howe Building, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
Employees | 552 |
Annual budget | $88 million (2019)[3] |
The Auditor General of Canada (French: La vérificatrice générale du Canada[a]) is a Supreme audit institution which acts as an officer to the Parliament of Canada tasked with highlighting accountability and oversight by conducting independent financial audits of federal government's operations.[5] These performance audits, known as the Auditor-General's Report provide members of parliament with objective evidence to help them examine the government's activities and hold it to account and improve good governance among public officers included.
Karen Hogan was appointed Auditor General of Canada in June 2020.[4] She replaced interim Auditor General of Canada Sylvain Ricard.[6]
Office
[edit]Auditors general are appointed by the governor general in council (cabinet) on advice of the House of Commons and Senate for a non-renewable term of ten years. An auditor general may only be removed for cause by the governor-in-council with the approval of both the House of Commons and Senate. The Oversight and Accountability (a/k/a the Federal Accountability Act) and Auditor General Act gives this body substantial independence from both cabinet and Head of Government control.[7]
The auditor general's responsibilities include:
- auditing operations of the federal and territorial governments
- providing Parliament and the legislative assemblies with independent information, assurance, and advice regarding the stewardship of public funds[5]
On November 4, 2011, the prime minister appointed Michael Ferguson, former Auditor General of the province of New Brunswick, as Auditor General of Canada, effective November 28, 2011. Sylvain Ricard, having been previously the deputy auditor general, was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 29, 2019, to serve until a permanent replacement was selected.[6]
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc. five years in a row (2008–2012), and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine.[7]
The commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, was created by Parliament in 1995 as an aide to the AGC, and has offices within the precinct of the AGC. The commissioner is empowered under the 1995 amendments to the Auditor-General Act to receive "petitions on environmental and sustainable development matters and [to] require ministers to respond to them".[8] The petition process requires the ministry to respond in 120 days, although the process may be delayed by litigation.[8]
The Office of the Auditor General of Canada is located in the C.D. Howe Building in Ottawa.
History
[edit]The role of auditor general was introduced in 1878 and prior to the creation it was the head of the audit board (1867–1878).
In 1971, the auditor general's office hosted VII INCOSAI, the seventh triennial convention of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions.[9]
List of auditors general of Canada
[edit]Auditor general | Appointed | Departed |
John Langton[b] | 1867 | 1878 |
John Lorn McDougall | 1878 | 1905 |
John 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[c] | 1980 | 1981 |
Kenneth M. Dye | 1981 | 1991 |
Denis Desautels | 1991 | 2001 |
Sheila Fraser | 2001 | 2011 |
John Wiersema[d] | 2011 | 2011 |
Michael Ferguson | 2011 | 2019 |
Sylvain Ricard[e] | 2019 | 2020 |
Karen Hogan[10] | 2020 | Incumbent |
Affiliations and Membership(s)
[edit]- Association des Institutions Supérieures de Contrôle Ayant en Commun l'usage du français (AISCCUF)[11]
- The Commonwealth AG Conference (Participant)[12]
- The Panel of External Auditors of the United Nations (Observer)[13]
Notes
[edit]See also
[edit]- Court of Accounts
- Court of Audit
- Parliament of Canada
- Auditor(s) General of the provinces and territories
Further reading
[edit]- Establishing a First Nations Auditor-General
- Accountability in Parliament: The Role of the Auditor General
- Public service reform and the role of the Auditor General
- Observations by the Auditor General on the Financial Statements of the Government of Canada
- The politics of audit: the federal Office of the Auditor General in comparative perspective
- [8]
- On the Audit Trail of the Auditor General: Parliament's Servant, 1973-1980
References
[edit]- ^ "Organization Profile - Office of the Auditor General of Canada".
- ^ "Supreme Court of Canada - Questions and Answers". Supreme Court of Canada. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-04-06.
- ^ "GC InfoBase - Infographic for Office of the Auditor General of Canada". www.tbs-sct.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-08-03.
- ^ Government of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada (2007-11-15). "Who We Are". www.oag-bvg.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Government of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada (2007-11-15). "Who We Are". www.oag-bvg.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ Office, Prime Minister's. "Prime Minister appoints interim Auditor General of Canada". www.newswire.ca. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
- ^ "Reasons for Selection, 2009 Canada's Top 100 Employers Competition".
- ^ a b Backgrounder on powers of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
- ^ INTOSAI: 50 Years (1953-2003). Vienna: International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. 2004. p. 51.
- ^ Government of Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada (2007-11-15). "Who We Are". www.oag-bvg.gc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]