Board of Directors

Ms. Michèle Galipeau started as Auditor General of the city of Montréal on August 16, 2016. Her mandate is for a seven-year term and is non-renewable. Reporting directly to the city council, she performs her duties in an independent, impartial and objective manner.

Ms. Galipeau also served as Auditor General for the city of Laval from 2012 to 2016.

From 1988 to 2011, she worked in various large companies in the financial sector, including more than fifteen years in management positions. She has served as director of budgets and systems, management comptroller and assistant vice-president – internal audit for more than a decade.

Previously, Ms. Galipeau worked in financial audit at Price Waterhouse Coopers and also taught at the l’École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal (HEC Montréal) for a few years.

Ms. Galipeau is a chartered professional accountant and holds a Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA) from the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal (HEC Montréal).

David Christopherson was first elected as the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament for Hamilton Centre in 2004 and was re-elected in 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2015. He is currently the longest serving member and Vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs.

Prior to entering federal politics David was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Hamilton Centre; elected in 1990 and re-elected in 1995 and 1999. At Queen’s Park he rose to the position of Solicitor-General in the NDP government. Following the defeat of the New Democratic Party government, David fought the Harris government cutbacks in Opposition as the NDP Labour and Workers Compensation Board critic. In 1999 he was appointed NDP House Leader and in 2001, elected Deputy Speaker of the Legislature.

David has also been a member of several international election observation missions, beginning in 2004 during Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, and for both rounds of their presidential election in 2010, and parliamentary elections in 2014. He has also been a member of observation missions to Serbia (2007), Georgia (2008), Moldova (2009), and Morocco (2011).

David began his public political career serving several terms as a Municipal Alderman and Regional Councillor. Prior to that David had been a union activist, President of Canadian Auto Workers Local 525.

Jorge da Silva is a senior executive with over 35 years of experience in both government and private sectors, including development organizations and multilateral institutions, in Canada, United States and Latin America.

His last role was as Executive Auditor of the Inter-American Development Bank, a position he held since September 1, 2012, reporting to the President and the Audit Committee of the Board of Executive Directors. Prior to joining the IDB, Mr. da Silva was the Chief Audit Executive at the Canadian International Development Agency, in Ottawa, Canada. His background also includes being Director of Audit Services and Director of Finance and Administration at the International Development Research Center, also in Ottawa, as well as four years at the Supreme Auditing Brazilian Institution, in Brasília, Brazil.

Mr. da Silva is recognized as a transformational, engaging leader, and is well-known for building effective, motivated and multi-disciplinary teams, and for interacting constructively with partners, Boards and stakeholders. He is a seasoned presenter and keynote speaker at various audit-related events throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mr. da Silva has a degree in Business and Public Administration from the University of Brasilia. He is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

Currently, Mr. da Silva is the Chair of the Audit and Oversight Advisory Committee of the International Organization for Migration of the United Nations (UN Migration), in Geneva, Switzerland.

Malcolm Gaston is an Assistant Auditor General at the Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia. His career includes developing and delivering performance audit in Canada, as well as financial audit, internal audit and advisory experience in the UK covering UN, national, provincial and municipal government. Malcolm also has strategic and financial management experience from his years as Chief Finance Officer of a Scottish Crown agency.

Malcolm joined the BC office in 2005. Before moving to Victoria, Malcolm was with Audit Scotland developing and delivering Best Value performance audits of local government. He started his career with the United Kingdom’s National Audit Office where he obtained a designation specifically for public sector accountants and auditors. Malcolm also holds Canadian and UK accounting designations and has obtained his director’s designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors. He has worked for two of the “Big Four” accountancy firms, delivering external audit, internal audit and advisory services to a wide range of public sector and not-for-profit clients.

Malcolm has also been a member of CAAF’s International Advisory Group, and contributed to several CAAF products and training events.

Denise Hanrahan was appointed through a resolution of the House of Assembly for a 10 year term as Auditor General effective April 22, 2021. Reporting to the House of Assembly and serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, she leads and directs independent audits to advise on how well the provincial government is managing its public funds, programs and services.

Prior to her appointment as Auditor General, she served as the Secretary to the Treasury Board, a position she has held since 2017. She has previously held executive positions within the public service, including Deputy Minister of Finance, Assistant Deputy Minister, Financial Planning and Benefits Administration with the Department of Finance and Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic and Corporate Services with the former Department of Transportation and Works. She has also held several director level positions within the public service, and in 2006 she was awarded a Public Service Award of Excellence. Before joining the public service in 2002, Ms. Hanrahan held numerous leadership positions within the retail, wholesale, and not-for-profit sectors.

Ms. Hanrahan holds Bachelor of Commerce (co-op) and Masters of Business Administration degrees from Memorial University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. She has completed a Masters Certificate in Project Management through York University’s Schulich School of Business, the Directors Education Program through the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management and has obtained her director designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Steve is an Assurance partner at PwC in the National Capital Region and has more than 20 years of experience in assisting private and public sector organizations in both official languages. He has been focusing on non-traditional assurance services in the public sector for the last 10 years. He currently oversees engagements delivered to public sector organizations in the areas of financial and non-financial attest audits, internal controls, accounting advisory services and risk management. Steve has also led many recipient audit mandates in different areas of the world, such as Central America, Europe and Africa.

Steve has also developed and delivered training sessions in public sector accounting and financial reporting on behalf of CPA Canada for the last 10 years across Canada and is actively involved in training sessions at universities and internally at PwC in English and French. He was actively involved in the new CPA Canada Public Sector Certificate Program. Steve has also led the development and delivery of internal controls training to multiple public sector organizations.

Steve currently resides in Ottawa with his wife and two children and previously resided in CFB Borden and Montreal. He is a University of Ottawa alumni.

Dr. Ong Hock Chye (王 福 财) is a Malaysian national with over 30 years of broad-based international experience in governance, risk, and internal control at the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and Ernst & Young at senior levels. He holds a doctorate in auditing from the Universiti Sains Malaysia with professional certifications in auditing and accounting.

Hock-Chye is a founding member of AuditWithoutWalls!, an online knowledge-sharing platform for auditors. He is also an advisory board member of the Continuous Auditing and Reporting Lab, Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA and a council member of Hospis Malaysia, a charitable community palliative care organization in Malaysia. Before retiring in September 2020, Hock-Chye was the Auditor General of the Asian Development Bank headquarters in the Philippines.

The diversity of leadership positions held by Hock-Chye in both public and private sector organizations has endowed him with the knowledge and experience for capacity development in any knowledge-based institution. Hock-Chye is highly motivated, enthusiastic and energetic with a consensus-building and knowledge-sharing working style.

Michael A. Pickup was appointed Auditor General of British Columbia in July 2020, directly following his six-year term as Nova Scotia’s auditor general. His passion for his work was exemplified when he left his position in Nova Scotia on a Friday and was in Victoria the next Monday to begin his new role.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• July 2020 – present: Auditor General of British Columbia (eight-year term)
• July 2014 – July 2020: Auditor General of Nova Scotia
• January 1990 – July 2014: Office of the Auditor General of Canada (Ottawa)
• 2000 – 2012: part-time professor, Carleton University and Ottawa University
• 2017-2020: Served on CPA Canada’s Auditing and Assurance Standards Board
• 30+ years experience leading financial and performance audits
• Worked in all regions in Canada, including the north

Pickup is Indigenous and a member of the Miawpukek First Nation of Newfoundland. He is also a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

Pickup puts inclusivity at the foundation of workplace engagement. He encourages staff to bring their whole self to their work, comfortably share their thoughts with him, and to laugh every day. His goal for the Office of the Auditor General of B.C. is to build a strong provincial and national reputation based on high quality output, efficient operations, and a highly engaged team as the foundation to all.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• Chartered Professional Accountant (1992), Fellowship (2018)
• Bachelor’s Degree in Canadian Economics and Political Science (1987) – Acadia University
• Certificate in Diversity and Inclusion (2021) – Cornell University
• Certificate in LGBTQ Executive Leadership (2018) – Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Published author of Nan-Made: How a Grandmother Made a Man (2018)
• Coached and trained auditors in Africa and South America
• Travelled to 45+ countries in past decade
• Intermediate French Immersion Program (1999) – Universitié Sainte-Anne
• Certificate in Mental Health First Aid (2019) – Canadian Mental Health Commission

Merwan Saher’s eight-year term as Auditor General of Alberta ended in April 2018. His career as a legislative auditor began with the Office of the Auditor General in 1980, where he performed in various roles. With nearly four decades of service in the Office of the Auditor General of Alberta, Merwan showed an unwavering commitment to helping government managers wisely use the funds and resources that had been entrusted to them. In May 2018, Merwan received a Lifetime Achievement Award from CPA Alberta.

Merwan became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in 1972, and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Alberta in 1982. In 2012, he was made a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants of Alberta (FCA). With his extensive experience, he represented the office in the work of the Canadian Council of Legislative Auditors, and served on the Public Sector Accounting Board Task Force on Indicators of Financial Condition. Currently, he is a member of CPA Canada’s Public Sector Accounting Board Conceptual Framework Task Force. At the international level, Merwan has provided mentorship and guidance to other governmental auditors in an effort to ensure key learnings are shared on efficiencies in performance auditing.

It is the job of government to communicate relevant and reliable material to its citizens about the effectiveness of government services. This necessary demonstration of accountability for results is why Merwan focused on promoting the integration of financial and non-financial performance information. With his desire to engage with and communicate key messages to stakeholders, Merwan was determined to have the work of his office effectively deliver information to make a difference in the lives of Albertans.

Merwan specifically draws attention to two public reports in his term as Auditor General:

• Better Healthcare for Albertans (May 2017)
• Putting Alberta’s Financial Future in Focus (April 2018)