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Crisis, Committees and Consultants: The Rise of Value-For-Money Auditing in the Federal Public Sector in Canada

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  • Clinton Free
  • Vaughan Radcliffe
  • Brent White

Abstract

This paper investigates the key drivers behind the origins of value-for-money (VFM) audit in Canada and the aims, intents, and logics ascribed by the original proponents. Drawing on insights from governmentality and New Public Management, the paper utilizes analysis methods adapted from case study research to review a wide range of primary documentation (e.g., Hansards from the Public Accounts Committee, House of Commons debates, the so-called Wilson report and the FMCS study) and secondary documentation (newspaper articles, Office of the Auditor General internal publications, journal articles). Major findings indicate a rise of a management consulting culture within the Auditor General’s office following the appointment of James Johnson Macdonell. VFM legislation effectively operationalized practices drawn from management consulting expertise by invitation of the consultant. It was offered as an answer to the growing scope and size of government, which had become problematized by the Auditor General in terms of parliament losing control over the public purse. The Auditor General’s invocation of financial crisis led to a substantial broadening of mandate and increase in resources for that office. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Clinton Free & Vaughan Radcliffe & Brent White, 2013. "Crisis, Committees and Consultants: The Rise of Value-For-Money Auditing in the Federal Public Sector in Canada," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 441-459, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:113:y:2013:i:3:p:441-459
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1315-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Radcliffe, Vaughan S., 1998. "Efficiency audit: An assembly of rationalities and programmes," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 377-410, May.
    2. Douglas G. Hartle, 1979. "The Report of the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (The Lambert Report): A Review," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 5(3), pages 366-382, Summer.
    3. Clinton Free & Vaughan Radcliffe, 2009. "Accountability in Crisis: The Sponsorship Scandal and the Office of the Comptroller General in Canada," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 189-208, January.
    4. Radcliffe, Vaughan S., 1999. "Knowing efficiency: the enactment of efficiency in efficiency auditing," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 333-362, May.
    5. Miller, Peter & Hopper, Trevor & Laughlin, Richard, 1991. "The new accounting history: An introduction," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 16(5-6), pages 395-403.
    6. Burchell, Stuart & Clubb, Colin & Hopwood, Anthony G., 1985. "Accounting in its social context: Towards a history of value added in the United Kingdom," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 381-413, October.
    7. Barreiros, Lídia., 1985. "Towards social accounting," ILO Working Papers 992431063402676, International Labour Organization.
    8. I. Lapsley & C. K. M. Pong, 2000. "Modernization versus problematization: value-for-money audit in public services," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(4), pages 541-567.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ferry, Laurence & Funnell, Warwick & Oldroyd, David, 2023. "A genealogical and archaeological examination of the development of corporate governance and disciplinary power in English local government c.1970–2010," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Axelsen, Micheal & Green, Peter & Ridley, Gail, 2017. "Explaining the information systems auditor role in the public sector financial audit," International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 15-31.
    3. Clinton Free & Vaughan S. Radcliffe & Crawford Spence & Mitchell J. Stein, 2020. "Auditing and the Development of the Modern State," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(1), pages 485-513, March.
    4. Gilbert, Christine, 2022. "The audit of public debt: Auditing as a device for political resistance in a neoliberal era," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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