President's notes

"Baseball is 90% mental; the other half is physical."

-Yogi Berra

At this time of year, many of our members are involved in a half-mental game of their own. With the crush of T1s, T4s, TSs, T3s, financial statements, year-end audits, and so on, it's sometimes hard to find time to get your own tax return done. Keep your chin up, your nose to the grindstone, and remember to take a little time for yourself and your family

Members in Politics

In this issue, we interview some of our members in public life. I think chartered accountants who pursue public service through political office do their profession proud, whatever their political views may be. To all of you who hold or are seeking elected office, congratulations and best wishes.

CAs and Public Policy

Several years ago Council made a conscious decision to elevate the Institute's role in public policy matters while maintaining its non-partisanship. After my tour around the province over the past several months, I believe most members agree that we're on the right track. In terms of elevating the debate, our BC Check-Up has been an enormous success, bringing facts and analysis into focus and expanding our commentary into non-financial areas. We have, however, had some opposition from senior people in government, some of whom feel that auditors and accountants should stick to financial statements and number crunching. Their reaction underscores our continuing need to educate stakeholders about the audit function and the expanding role of assurance services provided by chartered accountants.

Use of the CPA

I received a flood of emails from CAs in BC and the United States as a result of my request for commentary on whether we should pursue the use of the CPA designation in BC. Out of the many lengthy and thoughtful messages, a strong sentiment emerged in favour of using the CPA. Its use is currently restricted by the Chartered Accountants Act, as well as by the CGA Act in BC, and any changes would require legislative approval (not an easy process-we've been seeking changes to our Act for many years now, but have not yet managed to get the issue on the order paper). We will be pursuing this matter with our counterparts so that, with any luck, we can get it on the agenda in all provinces and territories. Alberta and Ontario are leading the way in this regard; both are in the process of allowing the use of the CPA.

President's Honour Roll Luncheon

On January 31, 2001, I had the pleasure of attending the President's Honour Roll Luncheon at the Vancouver Club. Once again, my congratulations to the ten honourees. For a list of their names, please see page 20.

Seniors Tax Clinics

My thanks to all of the organizers and CA volunteers of this year's tax clinics. The clinics provide excellent service to the seniors in our community, and I urge all members to consider volunteering next year. Please see page 19 for more information.

John Cowperthwaite, CA -- New Third Vice-President

In February, Council elected John as the Institute's Third Vice-President. Following his election to Council in each of the next three years, John will succeed FCAs Frank Barr and Robin Elliott as the President of the Institute in 2003/2004. John is currently managing partner at Vancouver's Ernst & Young LLP, and chairs the national firm's forum. He is an FCA in Ontario. I've known John for several years now, as he and I both serve on the Professional Liability Task Force, and I'm delighted at his election. I'm also looking forward to working with him in my remaining months on the executive and Council. He'll be a tremendous asset to our profession here in BC, and we're most fortunate to have him on board. Look for a more extensive profile of John in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Please feel free to send your thoughts -and comments to me at president@ica.bc.ca.

BY CHUCK CHANDLER, FCA

PRESIDENT, CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Apr 2001
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved