History of the OAG B.C.

Before the Auditor General Actaudit functions were not separate from other processes directed by the government. Appointments of auditors general prior to 1917 were more like the modern Comptroller General’s role. We are able to speak of a line of auditors general only in name and this line is broken by inconsistent naming of the position.

Pre-1917 auditor institutions in the province did not benefit from objectivity and independence from government - features of a modern auditing and legislative reporting function.1

The history of the audit-of-government functions in B.C. begins with Erma Morrison, FCA. To include earlier names would suggest that independence was not the distinguishing characteristic of the role. The image on the right marks the Office of the Auditor General’s key milestones up to 2014.

Read about our present and past auditors general.

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.