The Problems of Governmentality: The Wilson Committee and the Genesis of Efficiency Auditing in Canada.

• In Event: History and Teaching of Governmental Accounting

Abstract

The development and implementation of new policies requires work. In this article, we examine the antecedents and impacts of the Wilson Report, described by Auditor-General James Macdonnell as the “Magna Carta” of the Auditor-General Office in Canada. We focus particular attention on how prudential financial management became a political priority in the Federal public sector and how a particular representation of the appropriate role of the Auditor General was developed. Using Foucault's concept of governmentality, the means used by the state to ‘problematise’ life within its territorial borders and then act on the basis of these problematisations, we demonstrate that the Wilson Report provided an important impetus for action, galvanised by supporting experiences from the United States and a range of other Commonwealth nations and measured support from Canadian political elites. The Wilson Committee provides an example of the heterogeneous resources inculcated in the processes of governmentality.

Authors

• Clinton Free, The University of New South Wales

• Vaughan S Radcliffe, University of Western Ontario

• Mitchell Stein, University of Western Ontario