Mr. Chair, thank you.
It is a significant undertaking on the part of the Office of the Auditor General to conduct the public accounts audit. We have to look at the accounts in terms of the various components within the Government of Canada and have a view about which are the most significant components. In the profession, this is what we call a “group audit”. I'll skip over the technicalities, but essentially we have to decide where the bigger pieces are, the significant components, and where the major risks are, so we can tailor our audit procedures.
First and foremost, we have to gather knowledge about the overall reporting entity of the Government of Canada, which has many large departments and many significant transactions throughout the year. We have a view about which ones we would conduct significant work on, and then we look at systems of control, look at weaknesses, and verify transactions. It is a significant undertaking, and it is the largest financial audit in the office.