Thank you, Chair.
Good evening. I am very pleased to appear today to discuss the international peer review of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada that was completed in May of this year. The review, as you have mentioned, was a joint effort, with significant contributions from each of the respective audit offices of the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
As you also indicated, joining me this morning are Mr. Brandon Jarrett, executive director of the professional services branch in my office; Deb Jackson, senior director in performance audit; and Wayne Jones, executive director in my IT audits branch.
As you are aware, the objective of the review was to provide an independent opinion on whether the OAG's quality management system was suitably designed and operating effectively to provide reasonable assurance that the work of the OAG complied with relevant legislative authorities and professional standards.
The peer review team found that, for the period under review, the QMS for performance audit, special examination, and annual audit were suitably designed to provide reasonable assurance that the work of the OAG complied with relevant legislative authorities and professional standards. As well, the QMS was operating effectively for the performance audit and special examination practices.
For the annual audit practice, the QMS was generally operating effectively, but there were implementation issues in two areas: first, the completeness of the risk assessment procedures informing the nature and extent of further audit procedures; and second, the sufficiency of audit documentation recording the results of the audit work performed.
The peer review report included two recommendations that addressed these areas, which the OAG agreed to implement. The report also included suggestions for the OAG to consider, and it also acknowledged a range of good practices adopted by the OAG that other offices internationally would benefit from.
We are aware that the OAG has developed an action plan to implement the review team's recommendations and suggestions, and we look forward to hearing about their progress with the implementation effort.
In closing, I would like to recognize that peer reviews are a learning experience for both the review team and the office being reviewed. They facilitate the sharing of ideas and experiences among review team members. As members of the review team, we found the experience to be valuable and informative.
Finally, I would like to thank Ms. Sheila Fraser for inviting my office to lead the peer review team and for the high level of cooperation and assistance provided to the team throughout the review. The OAG was exemplary in its attitude and approach to the review.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I and my colleagues would be more than happy to respond to any issues or questions the committee may have.