I report directly to the deputy minister. We have an internal audit charter that guarantees our independence. It guarantees my access to all the information that I need to do my work. We also have a departmental audit committee charter that gives the independent departmental audit committee access to the documentation that it needs to do its work.
My independence is assured by my reporting relationship with the deputy minister and in the actions that I take as the chief audit and evaluation executive within the department in terms of not being part of management decisions that I could take ownership of that are beyond my purview.