INDEPENDENCE OF AUDITORS - A WORKER’S ISSUE: PAT MARTIN, MP

 

 

OTTAWA -NDP MP Pat Martin is calling for regulations that would prohibit auditors from providing other financial services to the companies they audit.  The amount that companies pay accounting firms for audit and other consulting services is regarded as a key factor in auditor independence.

 

“Auditors who perform a variety of consulting work for a client may be reluctant to take a hard stand on an audit. The potential exists for a serious conflict of interest. We saw that with the Enron fiasco in the United States. This practice should be stopped in order to protect the interests of Canadian shareholders and pension investors,” Martin said. 

 

In a motion to the House of Commons, Martin proposed that accounting firms that provide auditing services be restricted from providing other services to the same client. He also said that the source and costs of all accounting and financial consulting services be included in corporate annual reports.

 

Mr. Martin was joined at an Ottawa press conference by members of the executive of the Carpenter’s Union. That organization invests $3 billion of its pension funds in Canada. The union has begun a campaign to raise the issue of auditor independence at the annual meetings of 60 Canadian companies this spring.

 

“We have an obligation to do all we can to ensure the retirement security of our members and other Canadian pensioners,” Mr. Martin said.

 

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For further information:

 

Pat Martin (613) 992-5308

 

www.ndp.ca