Coat of Arms Office of the Auditor General of Canada - Bureau de vérificateur général du Canada
Skip all menusSkip first menu Français Contact Us Help Search Canada Site
About Us Publications Media Room Site Map OAG Home
Office of the Auditor General of Canada
O A G
What's New
Mandate
Reports to Northern Legislative
Assemblies
Work Opportunities
Careers
Consultant
Registration
Feedback on the Site

Biographies of the Executive Committee

Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada   Sheila Fraser, FCA
Auditor General of Canada
John Wiersema, Deputy Auditor General John Wiersema, FCA
Deputy Auditor General
Richard Flageole, Assistant Auditor General Richard Flageole, FCA
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 1
Lyse Ricard, Assistant Auditor General Lyse Ricard
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 2
Ronnie Campbell, Assistant Auditor General Ronnie Campbell
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 3
Johanne Gélinas, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Johanne Gélinas
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Audit Group 4
Jean Ste-Marie, Assistant Auditor General and Legal Advisor Jean Ste-Marie
Assistant Auditor General and Legal Advisor
Audit Group 5
Nancy Cheng, Assistant Auditor General Nancy Cheng, FCA
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 6
John Rossetti, Assistant Auditor General John Rossetti
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 7
Hugh McRoberts, Assistant Auditor General Hugh McRoberts
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 8
Andrew Lennox, Assistant Auditor General Andrew Lennox
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 9
Ron Thompson, Assistant Auditor General Ron Thompson
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 9
Doug Timmins, Assistant Auditor General Doug Timmins
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 10
Rick Smith, Assistant Auditor General Rick Smith
Assistant Auditor General
Strategic Planning and Professional Practices

Back to Top


Sheila Fraser, Auditor General of Canada Sheila Fraser, FCA
Auditor General of Canada

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 and Queen’s University that recognize her contribution to the fields of accounting and legislative auditing.

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).

Speaking Invitations

Back to Top


John Wiersema, Deputy Auditor GeneralJohn Wiersema, FCA
Deputy Auditor General

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 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.

Back to Top


Richard Flageole, Assistant Auditor GeneralRichard Flageole, FCA
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 1

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, the Canadian International Development Agency, Citizenship and Immigration, Veterans Affairs, and Crown corporations such as Export Development Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Canada Lands Company Limited, Marine Atlantic Inc., and the International Development Research Centre. 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 vice-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 (FCA), that organization's highest designation.

Back to Top


Lyse Ricard, Assistant Auditor GeneralLyse Ricard
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 2

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 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.

Back to Top


Ronnie Campbell, Assistant Auditor GeneralRonnie Campbell
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 3

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, Health Canada and Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and specializes in auditing accountability, contracting, major capital projects, Aboriginal issues, and grants and contributions.

Since joining the Office of Auditor General as a student in 1985, he 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, and First Nations accountability.

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 and contracting.

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.

Back to Top


Johanne Gélinas, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable DevelopmentJohanne Gélinas
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
Audit Group 4

Johanne Gélinas was appointed Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development in August 2000.

The Commissioner is an integral part of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. She and her team function as a special unit within the Office, investigating issues of concern to Canadians by auditing how well the federal government is meeting its environmental and sustainable development commitments. Like the Auditor General, the Commissioner reports on her findings to Parliament.

Ms. Gélinas has had a long career as an advisor to business and to federal and provincial governments on environmental and sustainable development issues. Prior to joining the Office of the Auditor General, Ms. Gélinas served for 10 years as Quebec's Commissioner of the Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE). In that capacity, she conducted numerous public hearings and mediations on environmental issues.

From 1995 to 2000, Ms. Gélinas was a member of the National Round Table on the Economy and the Environment and chaired its Task Force on Sustainable Transportation. She has also been heavily involved in climate change issues.

Ms. Gélinas received an undergraduate degree in Human Geography and a Master's degree in Environmental Sciences from the Université du Québec à Montréal and is widely published.

Back to Top


Jean Ste-Marie, Assistant Auditor GeneralJean Ste-Marie, Q.C.
Assistant Auditor General and Legal Advisor
Audit Group 5

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 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.

Back to Top


Nancy Cheng, Assistant Auditor GeneralNancy Cheng, FCA
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 6

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, Via Rail Canada 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.

Back to Top


John Rossetti, Assistant Auditor GeneralJohn Rossetti
Assistant Auditor General
Audit Group 7

John Rossetti was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in March 2005.

Mr. Rossetti oversees the group responsible for conducting audits of the Canada Revenue Agency—both financial audits and performance audits. 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 considered to be one of the Office’s leading attest methodology practitioners. From 2000 to 2003, he was the Principal responsible for the Office’s annual audit practice, 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 has recent experience in assurance standard setting with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. He served as a member of the Task Force that developed the two Canadian quality control standards for firms and for assurance engagements based on recently issued International quality control standards.

He holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics), a Master of Business Administration, and is a Chartered Accountant.

Back to Top


Hugh McRoberts, Assistant Auditor GeneralHugh McRoberts
Assistant Auditor General
Group 8

Hugh McRoberts was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in September 2001.

He is responsible for a portfolio of departments, including National Defence, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada, and Justice.

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.

Back to Top


Andrew Lennox, Assistant Auditor GeneralAndrew Lennox
Assistant Auditor General
Group 9

Andrew Lennox was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in November 2003. He is jointly responsible with Ron Thompson for the OAG'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 and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. 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.

Back to Top


Ron Thompson, Assistant Auditor GeneralRon Thompson
Assistant Auditor General
Group 9

Ron Thompson was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 1985.

Mr. Thompson is responsible, with Andrew Lennox, for the OAG'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 and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.

In the past, Mr. Thompson has overseen the annual audit of the Government of Canada's summary financial statements and audits of the Department of Finance and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Mr. Thompson 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.

Back to Top


Doug Timmins, Assistant Auditor GeneralDoug Timmins
Assistant Auditor General
Group 10

Douglas Timmins was appointed as an Assistant Auditor General in 1997.

Mr. Timmins is responsible for the group that audits the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the Department of Finance as well as such entities as the Canadian Commercial Corporation, the Freshwater Fish Marketing Agency, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada, and the Canadian Tourism Commission. The group also undertakes government-wide performance audits of financial management and information technology and is responsible for auditing the Public Accounts of Canada.

Previously, he was the Assistant Auditor General responsible for auditing the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Correctional Service of Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as issue areas such as regulatory affairs and ethics.

He has also conducted audits of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Transport Canada, and several affiliated Crown corporations, including the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority.

For several years Mr. Timmins was responsible for the audits of two large Crown corporations, Canada Post Corporation and Atomic Energy of Canada Limited.

His professional activities include involvement with the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Before joining the Office in 1980, Mr. Timmins worked in accounting and auditing with a major firm of chartered accountants. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and he obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1973.

Back to Top


Rick Smith, Assistant Auditor GeneralRick Smith
Assistant Auditor General
Strategic Planning and Professional Practices

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 audit practices, quality assurance, and strategic planning.

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.

Back to Top