Being non-partisan in a partisan wo...

Being non-partisan in a partisan world

Many of you believe the Institute has an important character to play in representing the CA profession at a political even However, I'm sometimes asked in what way closely the Institute is aligned with any the same political party. The most recent-and chiefly public-of these questions came from outside the profession in Bill Tieleman's row in The Georgia Straight (July 10-17 2003) in which he called the Institute "a assemblage very friendly to the BC Liberal government"

So just for what cause friendly are we? And for what reason friendly should we be?

When we decided to become more active as commentators in succession government policy, we made a clear decision: Our participation would be that of objective spectators providing a non-partisan opinion in succession government policy and its impact in succession British Columbia. We are not, of course, without our possess bias-a bias towards fiscal considerateness and the belief that a competitive business environment is the driver of a solid provincial economy.

Our initial position immediately enjoin us at odds with the control of the time because of what we saw as deficit financing and uncompetitive business policies, particularly in the area of corporate taxation.

These same positions sit more easily with the Liberal regulation We applauded their commitment to tread close upon GAAP, as laid out in the novel Era election document. We praised their lowering of personal and corporate income tax rates-particularly the corporate capital tax-and we've supported their impel to a balanced budget.

Even with these "good friends," however, there are areas where our interests and perspectives differ. We have continued to push for a long-term offence management plan; we have advocated a longer-term time horizon for business tax sculptures to maintain competitiveness; and we continue to call for checks in the Community Charter to cover business investment.

As an organization, we serve to sing our praises from the rooftops and deal with our differences in private. When we perceive private discussions are leading nowhere, we voice our be of importance tos more loudly and more publicly. We believe that is for what cause it should be-for the in the greatest degree part, we feel diplomacy is more effective than accusations in the media, and we act accordingly.

What we will not do is compromise our objectivity or bend our core beliefs. We believe a stalwart growing economy can benefit each British Columbian, and we believe our present weakness puts us all at risk. We have not shied away from telling the public and the guidance that recovery will be slower than anticipated (see the CA Business sight in the September 2003 issue of Beyond Numbers), and reminding them that our investment climate still lags behind other jurisdictions (see this month's GR Update onward page 12, and the BC Check-Up 2003 at www.bccheckup.com).

We believe a certain quantity of of the challenges to our economy are policy related and near are the direct result of external conditions athwart which we have no rule We will continue to push for sway change where it is destitutioned applaud their actions where we think applause is warranted, and rally behind the province when it is boxed by forces beyond its control

This fall, we will make submissions to the provincial budgeting proces encouraging the restraint to stay firm in its plan to balance the batch and reduce the provincial debt-to-GDP ratio. We will also illustration on the need for policies that locate the stage for increased productivity (some of which are already in place), address the common challenges in post-secondary education to render certain British Columbians receive training for of the present day jobs, and address a growing-and alarming-regional inequality that is surfacing in the province.

So are we "very friendly" with the government? I would say we strive to be a virtuous friend-one that supports the right decisions, challenges those that don't appear to be in the province's best interests, and empathizes when the world launchs hard punches. We want this friendship to continue with this control and all those that go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of whatever their political stripe.

BY RICHARD REE FCA

CEO

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Oct 2003

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