The Supremes and I

The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records in Detroit during the 1960s. They were the most commercially successful of Motown’s acts; at their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity.

The Supremes is also a term that legislative auditors use facetiously to describe Auditor Generals around the world. A national audit office of any country is a Supreme Audit Institution (SAI). In Canada there is a multitude of auditors general—municipal, provincial and federal—but only one SAI—the Auditor General of Canada.

The Supremes, like the illustrious female vocal group, can shake up parliamentary and congressional democracies around the world. My relationship with a “Supreme” goes back to 1983 when I joined the Office of the Auditor General of Canada. Now, more than three decades later, I am still involved with a SAI, the Auditor General of Guyana (AOG). Since the 1980s the Office of the Auditor General of Canada, working through the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation, has been brought auditors from former Commonwealth countries to Ottawa for training in legislative audit. One of the graduates of this program was Deodat Sharma from Guyana, who is currently the Auditor General of Guyana. The Office of the Auditor General of Canada and the Audit Office of Guyana (AOG) have a unique and long-standing relationship.

Canadian Executive Services Organization (CESO) recognized the critical importance of creating and maintaining an effective SAI function in Guyana. In 2015 CESO entered into a five year partnership with the AOG. The purpose of this partnership was to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, experience and methodologies from Canadian audit offices to the AOG.

CESO’s approach to delivering short-term aid interventions is to build a portfolio of strategic partnerships with organizations such as the AOG. A Lead Volunteer Advisor (LVA) is selected to for each partnership arrangement. The role of the LVA is to develop a strategic five-year plan, or a Partnership Action Plan (PAP) that identifies a roster of mutually supportive, short-term knowledge transfer interventions. Each intervention is expected to build upon the preceding intervention. Once the PAP is approved by the partner and CESO, the LVA’s role is to monitor progress, support CESO recruiters at head office in Toronto to find suitable candidates and to visit every two years to monitor progress and update the PAP.

CESO does not export Canadian knowledge, technologies and methodologies. Rather CESO imports Canadian knowledge to helps create locally-based solutions to local problems. In this regard, CESO is somewhat unique in the world. While CESO has numerous assignments in Guyana in tourism and mining, the AOG assignment is one of the few governance assignments.

I first became involved with the AOG in the fall of 2013, when I helped the office finalize a performance audit report on the provision of medical services. I knew that I would have to understand the cultural differences between politics in Guyana and Canada if I were to successfully adapt Canadian audit techniques for application in the AOG.

Once on the ground in Guyana, I was delighted and entranced by the cultural differences. I found myself in a country with two distinct and rich cultural heritages—one from Africa, one from India. As well, there are Chinese, Amer-Indian, Muslim, Portuguese and British traditions in Guyana. The proposed course on writing audit reports was overshadowed by the celebration of Diwali – the Festival of Lights. I did what any CESO volunteer does in such a situation–I relaxed, improvised and enjoyed the party.

The office shut down and staff made the most savory curries that I had ever tasted, all served on palm leaves. I danced, and two years later when I arrived to prepare a work program for the five year partnership agreement, my main contact, Dhanraj told me, “Dan you were selected for this assignment because you were the best international dancer during Diwali.” I don’t think so.

As a CESO VA, the minute a volunteer steps off the plane, she or he is enmeshed in a meaningful web of relationships. First, there is the Country Representative (CR) who has worked to create a trust based relationship with the partner organization for which a volunteer is to serve. There is the CR’s knowledgeable and helpful staff. I was fortunate to have met the CR for Guyana, Ann Persaud, in Toronto, a few months before I was to travel to Guyana as LVA.

But CESO assignments are never only about the work.  The work and making a meaningful contribution are at the core of the experience, but there is more than work.  During my 2013 assignment with the AOG, I spent lunch hours driving and walking around Georgetown with Anthony, one of the two office drivers.  I go down to the docks before dawn to see the fish landed on the wharf.  Another day we went to the zoo.

All CESO assignments are based on a high degree of trust between the VA and the partner employees with whom she or he works, and ultimately relies upon for their safety.  In a CESO assignment, one never knows what lies behind the next turn of the road.  After these initial experiences in 2013, I was delighted to return to Guyana.  In 2015, I felt like I was coming back to visit a good friend.   My work on preparing a PAP coincided with the AOG’s work to update its Strategic Plan.  We combined efforts and interviewed key stakeholders together.  I was impressed by the competence, dedication and professionalism of the senior managers that we interviewed.   At the end of the planning exercise, we identified a series of short, focused assignments.  The objective of these assignments is to enable the AOG to achieve its full potential as a beacon of integrity in country with a highly polarized political climate.  Once the PAP was finalized and approved, I then had to start contacting retired legislative auditors to see if they would be interested in serving in Guyana.

But does the CESO experience end when a VA returns to Canada?  No, absolutely not.  Every VA is a small scale ambassador for the CESO experience.  She or he shares the experience with friends and family.  The VA’s life is enriched.  She or he will see their old life differently.  A VA will have a special bond with Canadians with cultural of family ties with the countries in which the VA has served.

In a multicultural nation such as Canada, the CESO experience helps Canadians better understand and appreciate the origins of their fellow citizens.  In an era of global villages, these insights enrich the lives of all.  When I watch the news and hear about an event in Guyana, it is not just a name in the news.  It is place with which I have an emotional commitment.  I can imagine the impact on friends.  That’s why there is all the difference in the world between being a tourist and being a CESO volunteer.