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Biographies of the Executive Committee
Sheila Fraser was appointed Auditor General of Canada on 31 May 2001. Born in Dundee, Quebec, Ms. Fraser earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1972 and became a Chartered Accountant in 1974. As Auditor General, Ms. Fraser has focussed the Office’s efforts on serving the needs of parliamentarians and ensuring they have objective and reliable information with which to scrutinize government activities and hold the government to account for its stewardship of public funds. She has promoted the use of plain language in the Office’s performance audit reports tabled in the House of Commons. At her initiative, Canada was the first legislative audit office to request a review of its performance audit practice in an effort to provide assurance about the quality of its work. In 2004, an international team made up of representatives of the legislative audit offices of the United Kingdom, Norway, France and the Netherlands completed a highly favourable report. Before joining the Office, Ms. Fraser enjoyed a fruitful and challenging career with the firm of Ernst & Young, where she became a partner in 1981. In the Quebec City office, she was responsible for a wide range of private and public sector clients. She participated in several assignments with the Auditor General of Quebec, as well as with several departments of the Government of Quebec. She joined the Office of the Auditor General of Canada as Deputy Auditor General in January 1999. Ms. Fraser has always been active in her profession, at both the provincial and national levels. For her noteworthy service to the auditing and accounting professions, she was awarded the Prix Émérite 1993 and the designation "Fellow" by the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec in 1994 and by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2000. She received the Governor General's medal commemorating Canada 's 125th anniversary in 1992. Ms. Fraser has also been awarded honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Simon Fraser University, Queen's University, the University of Waterloo and Nipissing University that recognize her contribution to the fields of accounting and legislative auditing. In 2006, she was recognized with the Faculty of Management Achievement Award from McGill University. Ms. Fraser served as the Chair of the Public Sector Accounting Board of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 2004-05. She currently chairs the Working Group on Environmental Auditing and the Sub-Committee on Independence of Supreme Audit Institutions, two committees of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).
John Wiersema was appointed Deputy Auditor General of Canada in March 2004. In this capacity, his primary responsibility is to provide support to the Auditor General in areas of strategic significance to the Office. Mr. Wiersema was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 1997. His most recent responsibilities as such included overseeing the audit of the government's summary financial statements (the Public Accounts of Canada) as well as financial and performance audits of the Department of Finance, Treasury Board Secretariat, Natural Resources Canada and public service employee pension plans. He was responsible for the audits of several major Crown corporations, including Export Development Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation. In addition, he was in charge of the Office's regional operations in Atlantic Canada, which are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During his 25-year career at the Office, Mr. Wiersema carried out a broad range of audit and functional responsibilities covering virtually all aspects of its professional work. He also undertook two secondments to other organizations. Just prior to his appointment as Deputy Auditor General in March 2004, he served as Acting Comptroller General of Canada at the Treasury Board Secretariat for four months. An active supporter of the standard setting work of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA), Mr. Wiersema is a member of the Public Sector Accounting Board of the CICA. He served as a member of the CICA Assurance Standards Board from October 1999 to March 2003 and has participated on numerous task forces. He is also a member of the Program Advisory Group on Public Performance Reporting for the CCAF-FCVI Inc. He received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University in 1978, became a Chartered Accountant in 1981 and was elected to Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2003.
Ronnie Campbell was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in November 2003. He is responsible for the group that audits Public Works and Government Services Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Public Service Commission of Canada, the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada, and the Canada School of Public Service. This group also specializes in auditing governance and accountability, contracting, major capital projects, Aboriginal issues, grants and contributions, human resources management and results measurement and reporting. Since joining the Office of the Auditor General of Canada as a student in 1985, Mr. Campbell has worked on a variety of audits, including those of the Department of Supply and Services, Consumer and Corporate Affairs, the Standards Council of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as well as others on the accountability of First Nations. As a Principal, he assumed responsibility for the audits of Health Canada in 1999, then for the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, and most recently, for Public Works and Government Services Canada. Before joining the Office, Mr. Campbell lived and worked in the Arctic. He was recruited in Scotland by the Hudson's Bay Company, after which he came to Canada as one of the last Scottish links with the fur trade. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Ottawa and is a Certified Management Accountant.
Nancy Cheng was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in September 2003. She is responsible for a portfolio of departments and agencies that includes Social Development, Human Resources and Skills Development, Industry Canada, National Research Council, Natural Resources Canada, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and the Business Development Bank of Canada. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Cheng was seconded to the Communications Security Establishment as Associate Deputy Chief for Information Technology Security. Before this, Ms. Cheng was the Principal responsible for performance audits on the use of information technology across the federal government. She has experience leading financial audits of the summary financial statements for the Government of Canada and attest audits of government entities such as the Canada Pension Plan and the Employment Insurance Account. She has also been responsible for many other performance audits. Ms. Cheng served five years as a member of Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario, including the role of Treasurer, and 10 years as a member of the Executive Committee of the Ottawa Chartered Accountants Association. She also served six years on the Board of Directors of the EDP Auditors' Association (now the Information Systems Audit and Control Association) in Ottawa, the last two years as Treasurer. She has lectured at Algonquin College and has taught auditing at the University of Ottawa as a part-time professor. Before joining the Office in 1982, Ms. Cheng was a Computer Auditor Manager with a major firm of chartered accountants, where she articled and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. In March 2000, she was elected to Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (FCA), that organization's highest designation.
Richard Flageole was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 1997. Mr. Flageole is responsible for a portfolio of departments and agencies including Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, as well as selected Crown corporations. His group is also responsible for auditing small entities. He joined the Office as an audit trainee in 1977. In 1981, he worked at a major accounting firm in Montreal for 18 months as part of an executive interchange program. He assumed positions of increasing responsibility until his appointment as Assistant Auditor General. Mr. Flageole has lectured extensively in financial and management auditing at the University of Ottawa, the Université du Québec en Outaouais and the Université de Sherbrooke. His professional activities include involvement with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, with whom he is the Chair of the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board. He has also served on the Assurance Services Task Force and the New Assurance Services Board. He has also been a member of the Education Committee of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec and of the Board of Directors of the Financial Management Institute of Canada. Mr. Flageole holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in accounting and is a Chartered Accountant. In 1997, he was elected to Fellowship (FCA) of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec, that organization's highest designation.
Andrew Lennox was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 2003. He is responsible for the OAG's western offices (Edmonton and Vancouver) and for the financial and performance audits of each of Canada's three northern territories, as well as for Farm Credit Canada, the federal departments of Fisheries and Oceans, as well as other selected Crown corporations. He is also the Assistant Auditor General responsible for the Office's participation in the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors. From 1995 to 1997 he was the Senior Financial Management Advisor in the Department of External Affairs and International Trade. In 1997, he returned to the Office as a Principal of the Central Public Accounts Team and in 1998 became the Principal responsible for the financial audits and, later, the performance assessment for the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. From November 2003 to April 2005, Mr. Lennox oversaw the group responsible for conducting financial and performance audits of the Canada Revenue Agency. This group also assesses the Agency's annual performance reports. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Lennox has also worked with the Public Sector Accounting Board of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants to develop recommendations and guidance on public sector accounting issues. He has also designed and delivered numerous accounting and auditing courses in Canada and internationally. Mr. Lennox joined the Office in 1978 after obtaining a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dalhousie University. He is both a Certified General Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant.
Hugh McRoberts was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in September 2001. He is the Product Leader for the Office's Performance Audit Practices. He is also responsible for a portfolio of departments, including National Defence, Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Correctional Service Canada, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and Justice Canada. Mr. McRoberts joined the Office in 1981 as a Director and worked on the 1983 audit of program evaluation. Upon promotion to Principal in 1983, he became leader of the effectiveness team. He has led performance audits in departments such as Veterans Affairs, Fisheries and Oceans, Agriculture, Transport, and Public Works, and Government Services Canada. He has also led attest audits of a variety of farm income support programs and special examinations of the Canadian Dairy Commission and Farm Credit Canada. From 1975 to 1981 he was a member of the faculty of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Carleton University, where he advanced from lecturer to tenured associate professor. His research on social stratification and social mobility resulted in a variety of presentations to academic conferences, papers, publications in refereed journals, and a co-authored monograph, Ascription and Achievement. He was also a junior author of Stations and Callings, a research monograph on the educational aspirations and achievements of Ontario primary and secondary students. He also supervised a number of Masters and Doctoral students. Mr. McRoberts has an undergraduate degree in Political Studies and Sociology from Queen's University and received his Master of Arts and Doctorate in Sociology from Carleton University.
Lyse Ricard was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in April 2005. She is responsible for the audits of a portfolio of departments and agencies that includes Canadian Heritage, Transport Canada, the Parks Canada Agency, the Canadian Air Transportation Security Agency, and selected Crown corporations, such as the museums, the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Capital Commission and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. After working in the private sector, Lyse Ricard joined the Office of Auditor General in 1981 and worked in both the Ottawa and Montreal offices. She then worked at Regional Industrial Expansion Canada in Montreal. Back in Ottawa in 1989, she assumed the posts of Senior Policy Officer at Transport Canada and then Program Manager at Secretary of State Canada. After returning to the Office of the Auditor General as a Director in Auditing Operations, Ms. Ricard moved to Public Works and Government Services Canada as Director, Financial Management. From December 1995 to September 1998, she was Director General, Finance and Administration, at the Public Service Commission. In September 1998, Ms. Ricard joined Citizenship and Immigration Canada as Director General, Finance and Administration, until August 2001 when she was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister, Centralized Services Delivery and Corporate Services. On January 1, 2003, she was named Assistant Deputy Minister, Operations, Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Ms. Ricard received a B.A.A. (Honours) in Business Administration from the Université du Québec à Hull where she also earned a diploma in Business Information Technology. She is a Chartered Accountant. In 2006, she was elected to Fellowship (FCA) of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec, that organization's highest designation.
John Rossetti was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 2005. Mr. Rossetti oversees the group responsible for conducting audits of the Canada Revenue Agency. This includes financial audits, performance audits and audits of control procedures in place at the Agency. His group also assesses the Agency's annual performance reports. He joined the Office as a student in 1982 and became a Principal in 2000. He has experience in all aspects of legislative auditing. His financial auditing experience includes a number of Crown corporations and other separate opinions such as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. He has conducted performance audits of the Senate, Forestry Canada, and Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. He has also completed special examinations of large Crown corporations such as the Royal Canadian Mint and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Mr. Rossetti is one of the Office’s most experienced attest methodology practitioners, and was recently appointed the Product Leader for the Office’s Annual Attest Practice. From 2000 to 2003, he was the Principal responsible for the Office’s Annual Audit Practice Team, which included responsibilities for financial statement attest methodology and overseeing a technical review of more than 120 separate opinions issued by the Office. In 2000, he organized a benchmarking exercise of the Office’s attest methodology with the major international accounting firms in Canada. Mr. Rossetti also has international audit experience, currently serving as a member of the Board of Auditors of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He also has experience in assurance standard setting with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, serving as a member of the Task Force that developed the current Canadian quality control standards in the CICA Handbook (Assurance). He holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), a Master of Business Administration, and is a Chartered Accountant.
Rick Smith was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General, Strategic Planning and Professional Practices, in September 2003. In this capacity, he is responsible for the development and improvement of the Office's methodology and audit practices, quality assurance, and strategic planning. He is also responsible for international relations. Mr. Smith joined the Office in 1996 as a Principal working for the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. He and his team prepared the Commissioner's annual reports to Parliament and conducted audits and studies of a range of environmental and sustainable development issues. In 2000, he served as Interim Commissioner of the Environment before becoming the Principal of the Finance and Economics team. He led the assessments of the Export Development Corporation's Environmental Review Framework, Canada 's money laundering strategy and the role of the Treasury Board. Earlier in his career he worked on a wide variety of social, economic, and environmental issues in the Department of Manpower and Immigration, the Department of Finance, the Privy Council Office and Environment Canada. Immediately before joining the Office, he was Director General, Planning and Co-ordination, responsible for Environment Canada's policy planning function. Mr. Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Queen's University, a Master of Arts in economics from the University of Ottawa, and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.
Jean Ste-Marie was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in October 2002. In this capacity, he serves as Legal Advisor and is responsible for forensic audits and corporate services. Mr. Ste-Marie joined the Office of the Auditor General in June 1996 as Legal Advisor to the Auditor General. In 1999 he took on the additional role of Head of Forensic Audit. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1971. He began his career in the federal government at the Department of Justice in 1973, where he was Counsel and then Senior Counsel in the Legislation and Regulations Section. In 1982, Mr. Ste-Marie was seconded to the Privy Council Office where he worked with the Senior Personnel Secretariat, the Cabinet Committee on Social and Native Affairs (Justice and Solicitor General portfolios) and then the Nielsen Task Force on the Review of Government Programs. From 1986 to 1990, he was General Counsel with the Privy Council Office section of the Department of Justice. In 1990, Mr. Ste-Marie joined the legal services department of the Treasury Board of Canada as General Counsel, where he was responsible for a team of lawyers providing legal advice on the Financial Administration Act, official languages, human rights, pensions, and litigation support. In 1991, he was appointed Queen's Counsel by the federal government. Subsequently, he became Acting Senior General Counsel and managed a team of 20 lawyers that provided litigation services and advisory services.
Ron Thompson was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 1985. Mr. Thomspon is responsible for a portfolio of the department of Environment Canada as well as environmental and sustainable development audits, sustainable development strategies monitoring, and environmental petitions. In recent years, Mr. Thompson was responsible for the Office of the Auditor Genera's western offices (Edmonton and Vancouver) and for audits of Canada's three northern territories, as well as for Farm Credit Canada and the federal departments of Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Prior to that, he was responsible for the annual audit of the Government of Canada's summary financial statements and audits of the Department of Finance and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Mr. Thompson has also been responsible for the Office's International Relations Program. He was a member of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants' Public Sector Accounting Board for many years and he served as its chair in 1999. In 2002, he was awarded a Queen's Golden Jubilee commemorative medal. Before joining the Office of the Auditor General of Canada in 1977, Mr. Thompson worked for a major accounting firm in Ottawa. Mr. Thompson received a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1968 and became a Chartered Accountant in 1971. He was granted the FCA designation by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 2006. Mr. Thompson is married with two adult step-daughters. He enjoys travelling, reading and weekends at the family's log chalet north of Ottawa. Mr. Thompson is a member of St. Bartholomew's Anglican church and Ottawa's Rideau Club.
Douglas Timmins was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 1997. His group audits the Treasury Board Secretariat; the Department of Finance; and the following entities: the Canadian Commercial Corporation, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the public service pension plans and other selected Crown Corporations. Mr. Timmins' group also undertakes government-wide performance audits of information technology and financial management. He is responsible for overseeing the audit of the Public Accounts of Canada and for the work of the OAG's Halifax office. Previously, Mr. Timmins was the Assistant Auditor General responsible for auditing the Canada Revenue Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Mr. Timmins also audited Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, and several affiliated Crown corporations, including the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority. In addition, for several years, he was responsible for the audits of two large Crown corporations—Canada Post Corporation and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. Before joining the Office in 1980, Mr. Timmins worked in accounting and auditing with a major firm of chartered accountants. Mr. Timmins holds a Bachelor of Arts degree, and he obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1973. His professional activities include involvement with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Mark Watters was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in November 2006. Mr. Watters is responsible for the audits of a portfolio of departments and agencies that include Health Canada, Statistics Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Canadian Dairy Commission, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada, Via Rail Canada and the National Film Board of Canada. After working for a year with an accounting firm in Ottawa, Mark Watters joined the Office of the Auditor General in 1984 as a student. Three years later, he moved to the Export Development Corporation as a Treasury officer, responsible for the corporations' short-term borrowings. In 1989, he became the Assistant Comptroller of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), and, in 1996, became Director of the Finance and Administration Branch of the PSAC. In 1999, Mr. Watters became Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer of the Canada Council for the Arts. In this capacity, he had responsibility for all corporate services, Board secretariat and responsibility for three program areas: the Art Bank, Public Lending Right Commission and the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. In January 2006, Mr. Watters began a six-month assignment as Interim CEO of the Council. Mr. Watters holds Bachelor of Administration and Bachelor of Commerce degrees from the University of Ottawa. He is a Chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and l'Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated: 2007-03-27 |
Year
Sheila Fraser, FCA
John Wiersema, FCA
Ronnie Campbell
Nancy Cheng, FCA
Richard Flageole, FCA
Andrew Lennox
Hugh McRoberts
Lyse Ricard, FCA
John Rossetti
Rick Smith
Jean
Ste-Marie, Q.C.
Ron Thompson
Doug
Timmins
Mark Watters