Canada. Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages. Complaints and Audit Branch : As performed from 1971 to 1995 the audit function was never part of the explicit legislative mandate of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL). The revised act of 1988 did strengthen the power and leverage of OCOL to conduct special investigations, (Section 56 of the Official Languages Act) including "vertical" investigations of a single organization but these legislative formulations are not the same as an institutionalized audit function. The formal audit program of OCOL was abruptly terminated in April 1995 as part of program review cutbacks. The audit program originated as an imaginative extension by the first Commissioner, Keith Spicer, of the unlimited powers of investigation invested in OCOL in relation to any aspect of Official Languages Policy or topics related to language reform or bilingualism in Canadian Society. The first audits were meticulously researched, detailed appraisals of departmental compliance with Official Languages Programs with the primary focus on service to the public. Early audits were a practical failure in rationalizing language reform in the public service but the reports did create the most reliable descriptions of early Official Languages practices produced anywhere in the federal government. Broader "horizontal" special studies continued but most of the investigation resources were focused on vertical audits with increasingly formal follow-up procedures directed at senior departmental management. The administration of Max Yalden rationalized procedures in the effort to make the audits effective mechanisms of accountability and compliance. He introduced a regular audit cycle for government departments and shifted the focus from purely language of service to language or work and equitable participation criteria. Under D'Iberville Fortier, complaints were used to target audits at problem areas while procedures were standardized under consultation with the Office of the Auditor General. By 1989, OCOL had conducted 350 special studies, audits, and follow up inquiries. In the final years of the program OCOL sought to eliminate the cyclical approach and to target its audits at specific organizational units within departments with systemic problems. Since by then the Treasury Board had established continuous reporting structures which effectively internalized accountability within departments and since departemntal managements reported directly to parliament, the audit program had become a redundancy and a victim of the general success of the broader program of institutional bilingualism.
