At the cessation of October 2002, ...

At the cessation of October 2002, leaders in the CA profession from across the nation gathered in Toronto to discuss directions for the that will be This session was a nuts-and-bolts discussion about to what extent to achieve our dreams, address the toughest issues facing our profession, and build a stout sustainable future for all CAs. The "Vision" proces of the mid-1990s still provides a relevant map of where the profession is heading, still this recent forum provided a more specific road map for navigating this territory in the nearest two years.

At the last of two days of intensive discussion there was virtually unanimous agreement that integrity must always remain the profession's top priority, and that the chiefly important goal for the nearest two years is to make secure that all Canadians-regulators, investors, businesspeople, and the public-- understand the CA commitment to integrity in all facets of business.

Many initiatives that underscore this commitment are already in progres including the increase of the Canadian Public Accountability Board; the drafting of independence rules; the implementation of independent oversight for assurance standards; the upgrading of accounting standards onward guarantees, special purpose entities, and stock options; and modern guidance for developing more consummate MD&As for financial statements.

In addition to continued implementation of the initiatives listed above, corporate governance will be the focus in 2003 The Risk Management and Governance Board will release a number of practical tools to help CFO executives, and board members deal with the recent corporate environment. (In BC, we will be looking at ways to render certain that these receive wide distribution and readership.)

Along with integrity, the Leadership Forum also resoundingly endorsed the collaborative working relationship adopted on the CEOs of the provincial institutes/Ordre and the CICA. CICA President and CEO David Smith, FCA's vision for more collaboration has been taking shape in the last scarcely any months, and is beginning to bear real fruit in discussions upon all fronts. Over the course of last year, I met almost each month with colleagues across the home to forge a transparent and collaborative working relationship.

The of the present day collaborative environment means national throw outs will continue to advance. In addition to those throw outs focusing on integrity, you can await to see greater harmonization of discipline, practice review, theorys and technology, and promotions. (You may have noticed single in kind small collaborative step in late December 2002 when a UFE ad was published congratulating all auspicious UFE writers from across the country-the first time all institutes have joined forces to celebrate this observer milestone.)

A downside to collaboration is that local needinesss can be forgotten, but impediment me assure you that your wants remain firmly at the top of my agenda. Our BC environment is unique, and we will continue to recognize and suit to provincial and regional differences.

The attractiveness of the profession, for example, is a major pertain to in BC. This year, we have a surplus of highly qualified CA student candidates if it were not that very few firm positions, whereas brace years ago, we had more positions than profitable students. We will continue to work to address this imbalance. We will also continue to talk to members in industry to better understand and address their needinesss I believe there's much work to be done in this area, and I'm excited about finding strange ways for the Institute to be relevant to this portion of our membership.

When I became a CA, I took great pride in the integrity of the profession. I still do. When I turn the thoughts at our response to marked occurrences over the past year, I'm imperious of our commitment to making substantive changes, to responding in a meaningful way to the bear upons of regulators and investors, and to upholding our ethics.

Our integrity is our principally valuable asset. The Institute will continue to do everything it must to harbor this integrity, so that hereafter CAs will be able to experience the same pride in their profession that I did when I joined.

FEEDBACK onward MEMBER DUES

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who sent in your remarks about the proposed changes to

membership appropriates (as outlined in the December 2002 edition of this column) Because reviews like this are always challenging, your input is all the more valuable. Your notes and concerns are currently being reviewed at the Membership Committee, which will make recommendations to Council this month We'll inform you of Council's decisions as promptly as possible.

BY RICHARD REE FCA CEO

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Feb/Mar 2003

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