Auditors General of the Province of British Columbia, Colony of British Columbia and Colony of Vancouver Island

Comments on independence and objectivity:

Before the Auditor General Act, S.B.C. 1976, c. 3. came into force, it appears there was no formal separation of audit functions from other accounting processes ultimately directed by the government. All appointments prior to the 1917 legislation are best appreciated as progenitors of the modern Comptroller General’s role. Only in name are we able to speak of a line of Auditors General, and even this line is broken by inconsistency of naming the position.

Pre-1917 auditor institutions in the Province did not benefit from objectivity and independence from government direction and operational priorities, qualities which are the distinguishing features of a modern auditing and legislative reporting function.¹ One could reasonably argue that the tables above represent a transition of thinking about government accounting and financial reporting over the period.

A realistic view of the history of the audit-of-government functions would best begin with Erma Morrison, FCA. To include earlier names would suggest that independence was not the essential distinguishing mark of the role.

-Compiled by Ken Ryan-Lloyd.

¹According to Hon. E.M. Wolfe, Minister of Finance, “the auditor-general's independence is his most valued asset.” See British Columbia Debates of the Legislative Assembly, Second reading, Auditor General Act, May 27, 1976, p. 2100.