News from the profession

A summary of current CICA projects and initiatives

New federal election guide for auditors

A new edition of A Guide for an Auditor in a Federal Election Pursuant to the Canada Elections Act has been published and is available on the CICA website. Modifications to the previous edition reflect changes to legislation, primarily those aimed at limiting the amount and source of election contributions.

Originally produced in 1984 and now in its sixth edition, the guide summarizes the accounting requirements of the Canada Elections Act and related issues, and the Electoral Campaign Return that must be completed, audited, and submitted to the chief electoral officer by the official agent. It also provides guidance on the audit of a candidate — including a suggested audit program and sample consent, engagement and representation letters — and on the related auditor's reports.

As noted in the guide, the responsibilities of the auditor are twofold: to report (to the official agent) on the Electoral Campaign Return of the candidate, and to complete a "checklist for audits" and submit (to the chief electoral officer) an auditor's report on the issues covered therein. Two distinct auditor's reports are now required. Both responsibilities are discussed further in the guide.

The "checklist for audits" is a relatively new requirement that was introduced by a completely revised Canada Elections Act enacted shortly before the federal election in 2000. The questions included in the checklist effectively ask the auditor to confirm that the official agent has complied with the act in performing specified responsibilities relating to the campaign's bank account. Auditors should note that this is a compliance reporting engagement and they should perform the work and report in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards; simply signing the checklist would not be appropriate. For example, the respective responsibilities of the official agent and the auditor need to be described, in particular, that the auditor is not responsible for auditing the completeness of the records. An auditor's report, in the format suggested in the guide, should therefore be attached to the checklist.

For the guide in English please see www.cica.ca/election.
For the guide in French please see www.icca.ca/election.
For a printed guide, the product number is 0004 2004.

Council Appointments

The Auditing and Assurance Oversight Council (AASOC) has approved new and extended appointments to the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB), the body responsible for enhancing the quality of assurance services through developing guidance and generally accepted standards.

Moira Burke, FCA, office managing partner, Ernst & Young, London, Ont., has been appointed chair.

Members appointed: Jean Bédard, PhD, Professor, Département des sciences comptables, Faculté des sciences de l'administration, Université Laval; Christopher Begy,
FCA, senior vice-president and chief auditor, BMO Financial Group; Fred Jaakson, CA, director general, assurance, Accounting and Audit, Consulting and Audit Canada; James Saloman, FCA, CPA, partner in the professional, Technical, Risk & Quality Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Jon Singleton, CA·CISA, auditor general, Province of Manitoba.
Member reappointed: Cindy Ditner, CA, CMA, national accounting & auditing standards partner, BDO Dunwoody, National Office. The Accounting Standards Oversight Council (AcSOC), the body established to oversee the activities of the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) and Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB), has announced new and extended appointments to the council.

Members appointed: Jim Peters, CA, retired controller, Province of Alberta; and Gilles Bédard, FCGA, assistant auditor general, Province of Quebec.
Members reappointed: Mary Best, CA, partner, Arsenault Best Cameron Ellis; Thomas Connell, managing director, Canadian ratings, Standard & Poor's; Barbara Stymiest, FCA, CEO, TSX Group; and Patricia Walters, PhD, CFA, senior vice-president, Professional Standards & Advocacy, Association for Investment Management and Research.

AcSOC has approved a new chair and members of PSAB, the body responsible for establishing financial accounting and reporting standards for use by federal, provincial, territorial and local governments.

Sheila Fraser, FCA, auditor general of Canada, has been appointed chair. Terry Paton, FCA, provincial comptroller, Province of Saskatchewan, has been appointed vice-chair.

Members appointed: Michel Doyon, CA, general auditor of Montreal; Paula Jesty, CA, partner, Deloitte & Touche; John Noseworthy, CA, auditor general, Province of Newfoundland & Labrador; and Doris Paradis, CA, acting auditor general, Province of Quebec.

AcSOC has approved a new appointment to the AcSB, the body responsible for developing and establishing standards and guidance governing financial accounting
and reporting in Canada.

Member appointed: Robert Morgan, CFA, CGA, corporate finance consultant.

AcSOC has also ratified the AcSB's new and extended appointments to the Emerging Issues Committee (EIC), whose purpose is to reach consensus as to appropriate accounting practice with respect to specific emerging accounting issues. Mark Walsh, CA, principal, Accounting Standards, has been appointed chair.

Members appointed: Garry Cook, CA, partner, Dick Cook Schulli; Karen Parsons, CA, partner, Grant Thornton; Boris Pavlin, CA, partner, Ernst & Young; and John Craven, FCA, vice-president and CFO, London Reinsurance Group.
Members reappointed: Karyn Brooks, CA, vice-president & corporate controller, Bell Canada Enterprises; Gord Fowler, FCA, partner, KPMG; Bob Wardell, CA, partner, Deloitte & Touche.

Standards Digest