News from CGA-Canada
FROM: JUL-AUG 2005 ISSUE
Sustainability Report Launched
CGA-Canada, in cooperation with the CGA-Canada Research Foundation launched its third major report in June. Titled Measuring Up: A Study on Corporate Sustainability Reporting in Canada, the report presented the results of a survey of more than 3,000 Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange companies. Respondents answered questions on their current annual and sustainability reporting practices, as well as the driving forces, key stakeholders, issues, and future expectations with respect to corporate sustainability reporting.
The survey also presents information on the growth of the sustainability reporting trend, solicits companies' views on existing sustainability reporting guidelines, and explores the degree of support for future mandatory sustainability reporting standards.
Recommendations from the report include the adoption of globally-accepted sustainability reporting guidelines; that reporting guidelines be efficient, flexible, and voluntary; that the credibility of sustainability reporting must be improved; and that the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines become a mandatory requirement for sustainability reporters.
The report is available for download from the CGA-Canada Web site at
www.cga-online.org/canada.
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CGA-Canada AGM Date and Location
The CGA-Canada Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held September 23, 2005, at the Delta Brunswick Hotel in Saint John, New Brunswick. Financial Statements and the 2004-05 Annual Report will be available for download from the CGA-Canada Web site by September 1, 2005. The official Notice of AGM is included with this issue of CGA Magazine (members only).
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Conservative Finance Critic Speaks at Economic News Luncheon
Monte Solberg, Conservative Member of Parliament for Medicine Hat and Opposition Finance Critic, spoke at CGA-Canada's May 10, 2005, Economic News Luncheon at the National Press Club in Ottawa.
Solberg delivered a speech titled "Securing our Standard of Living" in the weeks leading up to the mid-May House of Commons vote on the Liberal government's budget, and suggested the Liberals' tax-and-spend policies have had a detrimental effect on Canada's standard of living.
In his address, Solberg cited private sector reports to illustrate his contention that Canada "has been allowed to drift from its potential" because of stagnant personal income, rampant government spending, and high personal and corporate taxes.
He said the 2005 federal budget as originally proposed had some positive measures, most notably the long-term reduction of corporate taxes, but that the Liberal-NDP agreement to increase spending by $4.6 billion over two years and eliminate the large corporation tax cuts largely negated those benefits.
Solberg also stressed that time was of the essence to get Canada's fiscal house in order "before we hit the demographic wall," noting that baby boomers are due to retire in large numbers, and that approximately 25% of Canadians will be seniors by 2030. This assertion was echoed by CGA-Canada's report on demographic changes in this country, titled Growing Up: The Social and Economic Implications of an Aging Population.
"High-priority programs like health care, education, and seniors' pensions could be put at risk during the upcoming demographic crunch," Solberg warned. "If we don't begin to plot a path to prosperity...the fall will be felt not only by our generation, but also by future generations."
CGA-Canada's Economic News Luncheons provide a forum for leading figures in Canadian politics, industry, and finance to speak out on a wide range of issues that affect CGAs and the public at large. For information on upcoming luncheons, go to the Events page of the Media Centre section on CGA-Canada's Web site at www.cga-online.org/canada.
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Coalition Supports Passage of Bill C-21
As reported in the May-June issue of the CGA Magazine, CGA-Canada's Government and Regulatory Affairs department has been actively lobbying Members of Parliament in an attempt to amend Bill C-21, An Act Respecting Not-For-Profit Corporations and Other Corporations Without Share Capital (Canada Not-For-Profit Corporations Act) . The Association feels that Paragraph 179(1)(b) of the bill is inconsistent with the way other federal legislation defines the qualifications of auditors.
CGA-Canada has been successful in establishing a coalition of not-for-profit Canadian associations to support the passage of this bill. Joining CGA-Canada on the coalition are the Canadian Council of Christian Churches, the Canadian Dental Association, the Canadian Red Cross, the Canadian Society of Association Executives, and Carter & Associates.
In an attempt to further efforts to amend the bill, the coalition has sent a letter to Brent St. Denis, M.P., Chair, House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Natural Resources, Science and Technology. The coalition has asked that the committee make the review of this bill a top priority, and report back to the House of Commons without delay.
CGA-Canada plans to renew its calls for amendments to Bill C-21 when Parliament is reconvened this fall. Further updates will appear in "News from CGA-Canada" and on the CGA-Canada Web site as more information becomes available.
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Barbados Convocation
CGA-Canada's Chair Louise Nesterenko, FCGA, Association President and CEO Anthony Ariganello, FCGA, and Lyle Handfield, FCGA, Vice President, International and Corporate Affairs, were recently in the Caribbean to attended CGA Barbados' annual conference and admission to membership ceremony. Ariganello presented the opening address for the conference, and spoke on corporate governance in the post-Enron era.
The following day, Nesterenko delivered the CGA Barbados convocation speech for 2005 and presented certificates to 29 new CGAs. She also made presentations to student award winners and this year's FCGA recipients, Colin Daniel and Angela Winter-Jones. Also present for the ceremonies was CGA Barbados President Marcel Murrell.
During the same trip, Nesterenko and Handfield also visited Bermuda to present convocation certificates to the island's two graduates. CGA-Canada congratulates all of the graduates and FCGA recipients in both regions.
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AIT Report to be Issued in August
CGA New Brunswick in April 2005 formally requested that a panel be constituted under the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) to help resolve the issue of access in Québec to public accounting for its members. CGAs are prevented from providing public accounting services in Québec because of laws restricting that practice to Chartered Accountants.
The panel convened in Québec City on July 5, and was scheduled to issue a report on August 19. The parties will have 60 days to implement recommendations from the panel report, or to reach an agreement on a mutually satisfactory resolution to the issue. If neither of these steps are taken, the panel report will be made public on October 18, 2005. Updates on the AIT challenge will be presented following these deadlines.
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CGA Affiliates Debut Air Canada Ad Campaign
CGA affiliates, working with CGA-Canada, recently launched a campaign to promote the CGA designation. The 15-second video runs on all Air Canada flights of more than 45 minutes until the end of October 2005. Audio for the advertisements is available in English and French, and the text is bilingual.
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