Sheila Fraser (born September 16, 1950) served as

Auditor General of Canada The Auditor General of Canada (French: La vérificatrice générale du Canada) is a Supreme audit institution which acts as an officer to the Parliament of Canada tasked with highlighting accountability and oversight by conducting independent f ...

from 2001 to 2011.

Early life and education

Fraser was born in Dundee, Quebec, Canada to Kenneth Fraser (1917-2005), a Quebec Member of the National Assembly for

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver C ...

from 1966 to 1976. She earned a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Desautels Faculty of Management The Desautels Faculty of Management is a faculty of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The faculty offers a range of undergraduate and graduate-level business programs, including the Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Adminis ...

in 1972. She then became a chartered accountant in 1974 and FCA in 1994. In 1981, she worked for

Ernst and Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms. The EY network is composed of member firms ...

where she worked on assignment to the

Auditor General An auditor general, also known in some countries as a comptroller general or comptroller and auditor general, is a senior civil servant charged with improving government accountability by auditing and reporting on the government's operations. Freq ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

in some cases, and other

government offices.

Auditor General of Canada

In January 1999, she joined the Office of the

as Deputy

Audit An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

Operations. She was subsequently appointed Auditor General in 2001. Her 10-year mandate as Auditor General ended on May 30, 2011. During her time in office, a

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

poll listed her as one of the top five most trusted Canadians. She made headlines across Canada when her report on the

sponsorship scandal The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. ...

rocked the country's political scene. She confirmed serious problems in the federal government's management of its Sponsorship Program for a four-year period beginning in 1997. In a few very troubling cases, sponsorship funds were transferred to

Crown corporations Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

using what the Auditor General called "highly questionable methods." That is, they appeared to have been designed to pay significant commissions to communications agencies, while hiding the source of funding and the true nature of the transactions. Parliament and the parliamentary appropriations process were not respected. The Auditor General made the news again on November 26, 2006, with her report on the former ombudsman of federal inmates. The report made a series of allegations that the former ombudsman, Ron Stewart, had "often skipped work and collected $325,000 in improper or questionable salary, vacation pay and expenses during his 14-year tenure". The case is currently being reviewed by the RCMP to determine if criminal charges are warranted. During the week of January 18 to 22, 2010, Fraser visited

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

to observe the military and development progress of the Canadian mission there. She expressed concern for the fate of the projects and the training of Afghan police and military, after Canada is scheduled to leave in 2011. She gave her last

public speech Public speaking, is the practice of delivering speeches to a live audience. Throughout history, public speaking has held significant cultural, religious, and political importance, emphasizing the necessity of effective rhetorical skills. It all ...

, on May 25, 2011, at the Canadian Club of Ottawa, entitled ''Serving Parliament Through a Decade of Change'', where she warned the government faces long-term fiscal pressures that will mean "very hard choices" between raising taxes or cutting programs and encouraged the government to publicize its long-term fiscal projections because "without them, we cannot begin to understand the scale and complexity of our financial challenges and the implication of policy choices.". Fraser also criticized the "truly shocking" lack of improvement on First Nations reserves and also said "I actually think it's quite tragic when you see that there is a population in this country that does not have the sort of basic services that Canadians take for granted.". She also referred to the

Sponsorship scandal The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. ...

as "a pivotal event with a lasting impact" and "broke just about every rule in the book".

Other business positions

Fraser was appointed to the board of directors at

Manulife Manulife Financial Corporation (French language, French: Financière Manuvie) is a Canadian multinational insurance company and financial services provider headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The company operates in Canada and Asia as "Manulife" ...

in November 2011.

Honours

Sheila Fraser received an honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Waterloo in October 2005.

Family

She is divorced and has three children. Her grandfather's cousin, John Fraser, also served as Auditor General of Canada.

References

External links

Office of the Auditor General Website: About the Auditor General

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Sheila Canadian accountants Canadian civil servants Canadian women civil servants 1950 births Living people McGill University Faculty of Management alumni People from Montérégie Anglophone Quebec people Government audit officials Canadian women business executives Auditors general of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Canadian women accountants Ernst & Young people