The School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA), in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies ta York University, hosted its 2018 Ontario Public Service Breakfast on Oct. 2 and featured Ontario’s Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk as the keynote speaker.
Auditor General of Ontario Bonnie Lysyk during her address
Following the recent change in government, the province’s finances are on the minds of many, and Lysyk attracted a large gathering of the school’s alumni and students working in the broader Ontario public service.
Lysyk was welcomed and introduced by President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton and Alena Kimakova, director of the SPPA. Also in attendance were several members of the school’s advisory committee including York University President Emeritus Ian MacDonald and Anthea English, the former assistant comptroller general for internal audit at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, who joined SPPA as its Executive-in-Residence during the 2017-18 academic year.
Lysyk is the 13th auditor general of Ontario, serving in this role since 2013. She previously held the positions of provincial auditor of Saskatchewan and deputy auditor general and chief operating officer of Manitoba. Lysyk’s 25-year career spans positions in both the private and public sectors, and includes extensive audit, finance, risk management and governance experience. In 2017, Lysyk was named a Fellow of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario and is currently a member of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors.
Seated from right to left: President and Vice-Chancellor Rhonda Lenton with President Emeritus Ian Macdonald and Anthea English
Lysyk’s presentation at the breakfast focused on the role of the auditor general, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts as well as several high-profile reports she and her office have recently worked on, including Ontario’s Pre-Election Report; the Fair Hydro Plan; pension accounting issues related to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and Ontario Public Sector Employees Union Pension Plan (OPSEUPP); and select 2017 and 2018 Value-for-Money Audits. The event concluded with a lively Q&A session moderated by Professor Dagmar Soennecken, graduate program director for the Master of Public Policy, Administration and Law (MPPAL) program.
SPPA executive with the Auditor General, from left to right: Undergraduate Program Director Joanne Magee, SPPA Director Alena Kimakova, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk and Graduate Program Director Dagmar Soennecken