Ron Baker

Accounting for a nation’s beginnings: Challenges arising from the formation of the Dominion of Canada

This article presents an historical study of the accounting issues and challenges arising from the creation of a new nation, the Dominion of Canada. We document the issues associated with combining the accounting of three separate pre-confederation political entities and describe how the first accounting system for Canada was put in place. The study identifies significant challenges resulting from a lack of formal accounting policies, the settling of accounts between the provinces and the new dominion, accounting for the division of responsibilities between the federal and provincial governments, and the poor quality of accounts from the former provinces. This study reveals that Canada’s first accounting system was not developed specifically for the new nation despite the creation of a new political entity, but was inherited from one of the former pre-confederation provinces.

An institutional perspective on the development of Canada’s first public accounts:

This study examines the Dominion of Canada’s first accounting system from the perspective of institutional theory. We find that Canada’s first accounting system was a continuation of an institution-building process begun earlier in the former Province of Canada. We argue that the political upheaval associated with the dissolution of one political jurisdiction and the creation of a new country created conditions conducive to institutional persistence rather than change, and that persistence was supported by continuity of the legislation and important agents that bridged the organizational discontinuity created by the confederation event.

A public sector accounting technology and its association with a transition to responsible government

ABSTRACT This study examines the introduction of an accounting technology in the Province of Canada, namely the collection and reporting of all revenues and expenditures from departments and customs offices. Drawing on insights from Foucault’s discontinuities in systems of thought, governmentality, and discipline, we argue that while this technology was not an incontrovertibly superior approach, it was consistent with a new rhetoric associated with the transition from colonial sovereign rule to responsible government.

Programme Devolution Accountability for First Nations: To Whom for What?

This paper is concerned with building a descriptive model of the relationship between First Nations bands and the Federal Government of Canada that has emerged as a result of programme devolution. By unpacking and reconstructing the components of the accountability relationship we identify incompatibilities between notions of the relationship espoused by both parties (and others). The model depicts a relationship that contrasts First Nations views of what the accountability relationship should be and the views of the Canadian Government regarding what programme devolution actually is. This model will be useful for understanding the complexity of accountability between the Government of Canada and First Nations and can inform efforts to improve the relationship between them.

The creation and acceptance of public sector accounting standards in Canada

This study explores the events leading up to the origination of public sector accounting standards in Canada by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) and their adoption by the Government of Canada. We interpret these events from the perspective of institutional theory. We find that a long-standing institutionalized practice of self-developed government accounting policies was disrupted by a series of challenges. An influential actor in this process was the Office of the Auditor General of Canada which first pushed for the creation of independent government accounting standards and then pushed the government toward the implementation of the accounting policies developed by the CICA’s public sector accounting standard-setting body. Two CICA studies served to further disrupt the status quo. We also find evidence of the role played by an inter-organization professional network in defining and labeling problems that ultimately resulted in the change.

Public housing accountability in Nunavut, Canada: a proposed framework for examining accountability relationships

Public housing in Nunavut is a critical service that has been plagued by overcrowding, health and safety issues, and in recent years, significant cost overruns. Accountability is an integral part of public service delivery and democratic governance. In this paper, an investigative framework for examining accountability for the delivery of public housing in Nunavut is proposed. A model of accountability relationships is used to provoke a critical examination of the mechanisms fostering, examining and reporting on accountability. A simplified illustration is provided that examines the issue of reporting requirements and accountability between the Government of Nunavut, the Nunavut Housing Corporation and a local housing organisation.