Letter to Peter Milliken, Chair of the Board of Internal Economy

Ottawa, 14 May 2010—The following letter has been sent to Peter Milliken, Chair of the Board of Internal Economy in the House of Commons on 14 May 2010.

14 May 2010

Mr. Peter Milliken, M.P.
Chair of the Board of Internal Economy
House of Commons
Centre Block, Room 222-N
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Milliken,

I acknowledge receipt of your letter of 13 May 2010 and note the Board of Internal Economy’s decision not to accede to my request to conduct a performance audit of the administration of the House of Commons.

Should the Board, at some future time, change its position on this matter, we remain available to perform this work. In that regard, I would like to address the issue raised concerning the mandate of the Auditor General. The Auditor General Act does not list the agencies and departments to which our mandate applies; rather Section 5 of the Act provides that “the Auditor General is the auditor of the accounts of Canada….” These accounts include amounts received and expended by the House of Commons. However, given our distinct relationship with the House of Commons, we have adopted the practice of requesting an invitation before commencing an audit.

Yours sincerely,

Sheila Fraser, FCA

Please note that the Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser, will not conduct interviews on this topic.

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