Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss Chapter 3 of the Auditor General's Report on Internal Audit, tabled in Parliament in June 2011.
I am here representing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I fully agree with the findings and I agree with the recommendations of the Auditor General's report.
Prior to joining the RCMP in April, I was Director General of Internal Audit at the Department of National Defence. The Department of National Defence was also subject to the Auditor General's audit. The internal audit function was rated as generally conforming to the Treasury Board policy on internal audit and the Institute of Internal Audit Standards.
The report of the Auditor General has been a useful tool and starting point for me since being appointed the RCMP's chief audit executive.
The mandate that I have been given by the Commissioner of the RCMP is to stabilize and improve the internal audit function. The objective is to overcome the challenges identified by the Auditor General.
We have used her findings and recommendations to develop an action plan for returning our internal audit function to a rating of “generally conforms”. The action plan has been shared with the departmental audit committee and the Office of the Comptroller General. Both have indicated that they are satisfied with our progress.
More specifically, we have now completed a comprehensive review of our quality assurance and improvement program, which includes all internal audit policies, procedures, and practices.
We have initiated a process whereby all ongoing audits will be subject to an internal quality assurance review at the end of each phase of the audit, whether it's planning, conducting, or reporting. We are planning for another external quality assurance assessment within the next 18 to 24 months.
I am committed to returning the RCMP internal audit function to a “generally conforms” rating. We have the full support of our departmental audit committee and the senior management of the RCMP.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening statement. I will be pleased to answer the committee's questions.
Thank you.