Auditing expertise
In Alberta performance measurement emerged
as a relatively vague intention in 1993 when the
newly elected government endorsed the recommendations
of the Alberta Financial Review Commission
to review the government’s financial position
and reporting procedures. Performance measurement
was formalized in 1995 with the adoption
of the Government Accountability Act, which
requires all government departments to produce
three-year business plans outlining their objectives
and performance measures, and an annual report
of results based on these measures (Government
of Alberta, 1995). The Office’s involvement is not
specified in the Act. The Office does not provide
a complete audit opinion on departments’ performance
disclosures and does not measure departments’
performance. Yet, over time, the Office
became central to the operationalization of the performance
measurement project, and established its
ability to speak authoritatively on the matter. The
Office’s claim to expertise is that it is qualified to
intervene in the domain of performance measurement
by providing advice on the implementation
of the government’s performance measurement
project, and by evaluating the credibility of departments’
performance measures disclosed in annual
reports. This claim was articulated in a number
of ways, for example through the production of
guidance documents and the issuance of recommendations
in the Office’s annual reports. Our
analysis focuses on these articulations and how
audiences responded to them. Expertise is judged
through an examination of the plausibility and persuasiveness
of the Office’s claim.