Canada. Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury : The Comptroller of the Treasury was founded in 1931 under the provisions of the Consolidated Revenue and Audit Act, S C 1931 (21-22 Geo. V c.27, s.21) and its mandate, role, and function were confirmed by the Financial Administration Act, S C 1951 (15-16 George VI c.21, s.11-15). From 1931 to 1969 it operated as the general accounting office of the Government of Canada with the responsibility to ensure that moneys voted by Parliament were used for the purposes for which they were intended and that no vote for a specific purpose is exceeded. The Office ceased to operate in 1969 under amendments to the Financial Administration Act, S C 1968-69 (17-18 Elizabeth II c. 27 s. 8) and The Government Organization Act, S C 1969 (17-18 Elizabeth II c.28, s.45-46).
Through a completely new administrative structure established in 1931, this highly specialized semi-autonomous branch of the Department of Finance established a centralized control over cheque issue and disbursements from the Consolidated Revenue Fund and pre-audit accounting procedures throughout all departments by the simple expedient of attaching employees of the Office of the Comptroller directly in the financial administrative structure of each department or agency and all regional and major overseas offices of the Government of Canada. The Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury absorbed the control of issue and pre-audit accounting functions from the nominal control of the Auditor General who had never really been given the means to perform the function in an effective manner up to 1930. This regime from 1931 to 1969 marked a unique stage in the development of financial administration in the Government of Canada.
In effect, the control of issue and pre-audit functions by the Comptroller meant that before any expenditure could be made or contract signed, the on-site agent of the Comptroller had to certify as an officer independent of the department in question that there was a sufficient unencumbered balance remaining in the appropriation made by Parliament for the service or activity. In case of dispute, the Comptroller could refer any requisition for payment to the Treasury Board for final decision. Under conventions that developed after 1931, Treasury Board tended to back up the authority of the Comptroller in a way that it had not backed up the Office of the Auditor General in the same function before 1930. It was this unique core function of strict financial control performed by a distinct centralized agency that came in for criticism by the (Glassco) Royal Commission on Government Organization in 1963. In addition to controlling the issue and pre-audit functions, the Office of the Comptroller of the Treasury maintained specialized auditing services for certain departments, the central control ledgers for the Government of Canada and prepared the initial input for the Public Accounts. The Office of the Comptroller also acted as the enforcement agency for Treasury Board directives and decisions. Through its organizational life, the first Comptroller, Watson Sellar, and later H.R. Balls played formative and determining roles in the development and effectiveness of the Office in defining a role and status distinct from the Department of Finance and Treasury Board.
When the Office went out of existence in 1969, its residual functions relating to cheque issue, fiscal accounts, advisory services and the Public Accounts devolved on to the Receiver General and hence to the Department of Supply and Services. While the new Department of Supply and Services provided auditing services to client departments on a fee-for-service basis, the substantive audit control functions of the Comptroller of the Treasury really became the responsibility of individual departmental Deputy Heads under the directives and standards determined by the Treasury Board and later the Office of Comptroller General (after 1978). In substance, the centralized audit function of the Comptroller of the Treasury disappeared in 1969 and was replaced by whole new principles and practices in public accounting and a whole new set of relationships defined by delegated responsibilities to deputy heads, a common audit administrative service function provided by the Department of Supply and Services and a new emphasis on accountability structures reporting through the Treasury Board and its Secretariat(s).
