About the Audit Committee

The Audit Committee (AC) is an essential component of the internal audit regime established within OPC and reflective of both the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Audit which came into effect on April 1, 2006 and the Joint Agreement of the Working Group of Officers of Parliament. The latter reinforces OPC’s status as an Officer of Parliament.

The AC is advisory to the Commissioner. The Committee provides objective advice and recommendations to the Commissioner regarding the sufficiency, quality and results of assurance on the adequacy and functioning of the department’s risk management, control and governance frameworks and processes.

To give the Commissioner this support, the AC exercises active oversight of core areas of OPC control and accountability in an integrated and systematic way, such that the results of internal audits may be incorporated into the OPC priority-setting and strategic planning processes. Hence, the work of the Committee reinforces the quality and reliability of the financial and other performance information used by OPC managers for decision-making and reporting and, in so doing, contributes to enhanced managerial accountability. The AC also serves to reinforce the independence, effectiveness and accountability of the Chief Audit Executive.

Membership

There are three external members who are not currently members of the Federal Public Service and the Commissioner is an ex-officio member. The Chief Audit Executive (CAE)/Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and a secretariat member also attend all meetings.

External Members

• Liette Dumas-Sluyter has worked for more than 30 years in the Federal Public Service. The last years of her career, she has served as Assistant Commissioner and Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Services, at Correctional Service Canada, from 2010 to 2016 and from 2006 to 2010 as Chief Audit Executive. She has also held management positions in other government departments and agencies, including the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and Health Canada. She has experience in risk management, governance, strategic planning, compliance and internal auditing. From 1985 to 2000, she worked as an external auditor for the Office of the Auditor General, at various levels of the organization. Ms. Dumas-Sluyter also served on the Conseil des gouverneurs de l’Université de Moncton from 2006 to 2015. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CMA). She holds an MBA and certification in internal auditing.

• Suzanne Morris is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA, CA) and experienced senior executive and board member. She sits on the Board of Governors of the University of Ottawa and is a member of the Audit Committee of the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. From 2009 to 2015, she was the Vice-President and CFO of CBC/Radio-Canada, where she oversaw the financial stewardship of Canada’s national public broadcaster. Ms. Morris also served as Vice-Chair of the CBC Pension Board of Trustees. Before becoming a member of CBC/Radio-Canada’s senior executive team, she was Secretary/Treasurer to the CBC Pension Board. Prior to that, she was Vice-President, Small Business Financial Services, at Export Development Canada (EDC), leading the line of business serving small and mid-size companies across Canada. She has also held senior positions at EDC in risk management and internal audit, as well as at Deloitte, where she provided assurance and business advisory services to large corporate and public sector clients. Suzanne was an advisor to the Dean of the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, is a past Corporate Director of SiriusXM Canada and past Board member of the Forum for International Trade Training.
• Carmen Prévost Vierula is a Fellow of Chartered Professional Accountants Ontario and a certified internal auditor. She has considerable leadership experience in financial management and reporting, strategic planning, project management oversight and the evaluation of the effectiveness of organizations’ risk management, internal control, and governance processes. In 2020, Carmen retired from the Bank of Canada where she held the position of Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accountant and Managing Director of the Financial Services department from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that, she was the Bank’s Chief Internal Auditor from 2008 to 2012 and its Director of Internal Audit from 2002 to 2008. She had internal audit senior strategic leadership roles at the United Nations and the University of Ottawa. She worked as a public accountant in Ottawa, Guelph and Calgary, and taught French in Helsinki. Since retiring, she has been engaged by the International Monetary Fund to provide expert technical assistance in risk management and internal audit to selected central banks. Carmen is a member of Board of Directors of OMNI Conversion Technologies Inc., an Ottawa-based private company in renewable energy. She chairs the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. She recently became a member of the Audit Committee of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Carmen is actively involved in her community and has served on several boards including Financial Executives International’s National Capital Region Chapter (2015-2021), United Way Centraide Canada (2017-2020), University of Ottawa (2004-2012) and the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Center (2002-2007).