Perspective
CGA-Canada's Global Village
Last June, I attended the Admission to Membership ceremonies for new CGAs and Fellowship recipients in Barbados. The island's natural beauty was the perfect backdrop for the ceremony as graduates accepted their certificates with pride. I must confess that I, too, felt a certain amount of pride. Pride in being reminded of the sense of achievement our designation means to members, and pride in knowing that such impact is felt around the world.
Since 1964, when we introduced the CGA Program in Bermuda and the Caribbean, our international focus has steadily increased, both in terms of reach and professional influence. Today, international representation accounts for over 3,500 members and students, and spans the globe from Bermuda and the Caribbean to Hong Kong and China.
CGA-Canada has always enjoyed respect internationally as a reasoned and informed voice on matters that help shape the accounting profession globally. Our enhanced role warranted prominent mention in CGA-Canada's new strategic plan published earlier this year, for it is our intention to maintain and grow our international presence.
As a founding member of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), we play an active part in a number of key initiatives. In early 2006, Sylvie Voghel, FCGA, former CGA-Canada Chair and IFAC Board member since 2003, was appointed Chair of the IFAC Small and Medium Practices Committee to provide leadership and direction for the emerging concerns of this sector worldwide. I, myself, was appointed to the Small and Medium Enterprises working group of the International Accounting Standards Board earlier this year.
In 2005, Pierre Barnès, FCGA, was elected President of the Interamerican Accounting Association after having served on its board since 1994. In this role, he represents the broad interests of professional accountants and their member bodies in 23 countries within North, Central, and South America. Former CGA-Canada Chair Jean Précourt, FCGA, is First Vice-President of the Fédération internationale des experts-comptables francophones, broadening our reach throughout the French-speaking world of accounting. Other former CGA-Canada Chairs now playing international roles include Michel Guindon, FCGA, Vice-President of the International Association of Accounting Education and Research, and Dale Gislason, FCGA, member of the IFAC Small and Medium Practices Committee.
Recently the World Bank commissioned CGA-Canada to research the accounting and auditing standards and codes applied by the profession in Azerbaijan. On the heels of this project we won a tender on a follow-up project designed to investigate ways to strengthen the profession in the region. Over the coming months, our international partnerships will continue to expand as several new initiatives come to fruition.
All this international presence and activity couldn't be more timely. Global developments, particularly in the area of standards, are charting a new direction for the profession. As the accounting world moves closer to convergence and harmonization with International Financial Reporting Standards, CGA-Canada will continue to be an active advocate of development that supports our members, the profession, and the public interest.
And this is something of which we can all be proud.
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