An illusion of independence - a working paper on the 5 threats

Abstract

The audit profession has long held independence to be a key value and hallmark of the profession. This is perhaps especially true for legislative auditors, or auditors general. This working paper details a case study of two Canadian jurisdictions where provincial comptrollers were appointed as auditor general, raising questions on the perception of independence. It uses the five threats to independence as a framework to determine if the perceptions of a possible conflict are valid. Building on the literature of the social construction of independence, it proposes some initial conclusions and sets the stage for a second phase of this work.