Office of the Auditor General:

The Municipal Auditor General, Larry Munroe, was hired in September, 2009. The first responsibility of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) is to the public. In addition, HRM’s Auditor General provides assistance to Regional Council in holding itself and the Administration accountable for the sound administration of HRM’s financial accounts and transactions and achieving value for money in the operation of the Municipality.

As is customary with Offices of the Auditors General, the HRM Auditor General will, on an independent basis, develop and carry out an annual work plan. The reports of the work plan component will be presented to Regional Council at least annually in a public forum.

In order to support the annual work outcomes of the Office of the Auditor General, the staff of the Business Systems and Quality Assurance group will join his Office. Through their work in this division, Cathie Osborne, David Marr, and Sang-gye Buschmann have played significant roles in the ongoing improvement and accountability of our internal service delivery and operations. This wealth of HRM operational knowledge and experience will contribute significantly to the success of the Office of the Auditor General.

Therefore, effective April 1, 2010, Cathie, David, and Sang-gye will join the OAG. Please join me in wishing them all the best in their new roles with the Office of the Auditor General.

Thank you
Mike Labrecque P.Eng,
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Corporate Services and Strategy
(c) (902) 476-9684
(w)(902) 490-4630
labrecm@halifax.ca

Business Systems and Control and Internal Auditing:

The Internal Audit function has changed dramatically during the six decades since it was originally defined in most internal auditing professional associations. During the last six decades, the profession's narrow scope of measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of controls has expanded to a much broader spectrum of activities. Significant emphasis is now placed on working with clients to improve operations and add continuous value to their organizations.

The new definition approved by the Institution of Internal Auditing and in effect as of January 1, 2002 states:

"Internal auditing is an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity designed to add value and improve an organization's operations. It helps an organization accomplish its objectives by bringing a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control, and governance processes."

• Assurance reflects the belief that value can be added by providing an assessment of the reliability or relevance of data and operations in specific organizational settings. This includes all traditional audit areas such as financial audits, compliance audits, operational audits and economy and efficiency (value for money) audits and newer forms of assurance stemming from control and risk management audits.
• Consulting seeks to make direct improvements in the circumstances or condition of an organization or customer through problem solving methodologies.
• Risk management, control and governance processes recognize that controls do not exist in a vacuum. Controls exist to assist the organization in managing its risk and to promote effective governance processes.

This definition lifts the focus of internal auditing to the organizational level, in contrast to the previous emphasis on supporting individual responsibilities. It aligns with the organization's critical success factors and core processes- where the greatest opportunities to make a difference and create value reside.

Our focus over the past few years has been on assurance.  However, we endeavor to carry out a balanced mix of consulting and auditing.