An Analysis of Reports from the Office of the Auditor General of Canada: How Audit Guidelines Shape the Documents that Inform Government and Citizens

Abstract

This paper examines two audit reports produced by The Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) in the year 2000. These reports are reviewed as compared with the Value-for-Money Audit Manual, the publication that guides audit practices and ultimately shapes the final communication before it becomes both a parliamentary and public document. The analysis conducted demonstrates that the Value-for-Money Audit Manual, the rating of the government entity, and the review hierarchy of the OAG conflate to produce documents that vary substantively in their reporting practices. Additionally, the document design of the reports themselves is considered as this feature serves to lessen the readability of the information. It is asserted in this paper that messages of importance in the reports are constructed so carefully and situated in such a visually complex design that it is difficult for both govern-ment and the public to determine if an assessment is fair and honest.

Keywords

• analysis
• government