L. Denis Desautels, OC, FCA - Biography

L. Denis Desautels earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in 1964 and became a Chartered Accountant in 1966. Mr. Desautels was Auditor General of Canada from April 1, 1991 until March 31, 2001. At the time of his appointment, Mr. Desautels was Ernst & Young's Regional Director of Consulting Services for the Province of Québec and the National Capital Region. In addition to a distinguished career in the private sector, Mr. Desautels had extensive experience in public sector auditing and accounting at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.

In recognition of his contribution to the auditing and accounting professions, he was named a Fellow by the Order of Chartered Accountants of Québec in 1986. He had been a member of the Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Committee of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) since its foundation in 1981, and Chairman of the Committee for 1984-85. He was also named a Fellow by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario in 1991 and, more recently, he received honorary doctorates from the University of Ottawa and from the University of Waterloo. He also has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.

As Auditor General of Canada, Mr. Desautels was responsible for conducting examinations of the operations of the Government of Canada and of its numerous Crown corporations and agencies, as well as those of Canada's three territorial governments. The Auditor General's reports to Parliament cover a wide range of issues dealing with accountability and the management of government programs and the delivery of services to the public.

He is presently a member of both the accounting and the assurance standards oversight councils of the CICA, of the National Awards in Governance Advisory Committee of the Conference Board of Canada, of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board and Chair of the Capital Health Alliance.

 He is also a member of the  board of directors  of CARE Canada, the Laurentian Bank of Canada, Groupe Jean Coutu (PJC) Inc., Bombardier Inc. and Alcan Inc.

He is presently an Executive-in-residence at the School of Management of the University of Ottawa.