CAHF: CAPSULE HIGHLIGHTS OF 2022 INDUCTEES
“Founders of the Profession” inducted in 2022
Ellen L. Fairclough
Ellen L. Fairclough was one of the first women in Canada to earn a professional accounting designation, and to form an accounting firm, in the 1930s. But it was in Federal politics that she made her name, being elected for five terms from 1950 (a record for women to that time) and then being the first female cabinet minister in 1957. As Minister of Citizenship and Immigration she introduced the legislation that gave Status Indians the right to vote in Federal elections, bringing many honours from aboriginal groups, including Honorary Chief of the Blackfoot Nation. In 1994 she was appointed "Companion" of the Order of Canada, the Order's highest level.
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James J. Macdonell
James J. Macdonell was a Founding Director of the Canadian Association of Managment Consultants in 1962. In 1973 he was appointed Auditor General of Canada (A-G), one of two offices he revolutionized, the other being the UN Board of Auditors, on which he served as Canada's representative. A key change for the former was the requirement that the A-G reports on money expended other than for the purpose for which it had been appropriated by Parliament. On retirement in 1980 he founded the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation, to promote and train public sector auditors in "value for money" auditing.
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Francis G. Winspear
Francis G. Winspear founded an accounting firm in Edmonton in 1930 which, by the time it merged with Deloitte 50 years later, had offices from coast to coast. He also did extensive part-time teaching at the University of Alberta, and was involved in the operations of numerous enterprises, both as CEO of 19 private companies and as director of several public companies - including the TD Bank for 27 years. He was known for his ability "to reorganize companies and make then pay." An extraordinary philanthropist, his donation to the Winspear Centre concert hall in Edmonton was the largest donation by an individual to a Canadian arts organization.
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“Leaders of the Profession” inducted in 2022
Paul G. Cherry
Paul G. Cherry was seconded by Coopers & Lybrand to be the first Chief Accountant of the Ontario Securities Commission, in 1987. He then went on to take numerous leadership roles in the profession's standard-setting committees and boards: in Canada these included chairing the Emerging Issues Committee and, after retiring from PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1999, Chair of the Accounting Standards Board for eight years. Internationally, among his numerous contributions he served as a Canadian member of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) for seven years, and was founding chair of the IASC Standing Interpretations Committee for four years.
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Sheila Fraser
Sheila Fraser left public practice with Clarkson Gordon (now EY) in Quebec City in 1999, to become Deputy Auditor General, Audit Operations. Two years later she became the first woman to be appointed Auditor General. Among the numerous challenging issues with which she had to deal were the sponsorship scandal, the living conditions of indigenous people and the funding for the G8 and G20 summits; these gave her an extraordinary public profile. Following her retirement from the office in 2011 no fewer than 18 universities presented her with honorary doctorates. She also served on key professional committees, both in Canada and internationally.
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Michael Gibbins
Michael Gibbins had a distinguished academic career, first at UBC and then the University of Alberta. At the latter he held the Winspear Foundation Distinguished Chair in Professional Accounting. His introductory accounting text went through six editions, and his articles were published in top academic journals - one winning the Notable Contributions to Accounting Literature Award in 2004. In 1984/5 he served as CAAA President, and was Editor of Contemporary Accounting Research in 1992-95. He was the first to receive all three of the top CAAA Awards: those named for Rosen, Falk and Baxter.
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Richard F. "Dick" Haskayne
Richard F. "Dick" Haskayne spent his entire career, after training as an accountant, in the oil and gas industry. He was CEO or President of six companies, including Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas, where he spent 20 years; he also served as Chair or Director of 20 public companies, including some of Canada's largest (like Manulife and CIBC). He has played an important role in advancing ethical standards in business, corporate governance and social responsibility, and has been an exemplary philanthropist, being particularly supportive of the University of Calgary, which named its business school after him. The Halls of Fame of Canadian Business and Canadian Petroleum have inducted him.
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Louis Ménard
Louis Ménard has made a unique contribution to academe, the accounting profession and the business community by developing terminological research expertise and publishing two most significant books. For more than 30 years, as principal author, he has updated the Dictionnaire de la comptabilité et de la gestion financière (Accounting and Financial Management Dictionary), published by CICA/CPA Canada, in collaboration with authoritative bodies in France and Belgium. In addition, he has assumed the co-direction and drafting of Dictionary of Derivatives and Other Financial instruments (published by the Quebec Order of CAs). Most fortunately, he has continued this work since his retirement from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 2012.
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Patricia L. O'Malley
Patricia L. O'Malley received the Ontario Gold Medal when graduating as a CA. During the 26 years she spent at KPMG and its predecessor firms she served on numerous standard-setting committees, both in Canada and internationally. After leaving KPMG in 1999 her appointments included: the first full-time chair of the Canadian Accounting Standards Board, founding member of the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and chair of the International Forum of Accounting Standard Setters; she also served as the IASB's Director of Implementation Activities. In 1993/94 she was the CAAA's President. In 2011 she was named one of Canada's Top 100 most powerful women, and she has contributed very extensively to community organizations.
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Gordon Richardson
Gordon Richardson has taken a special interest in PhD students during his career, which has taken him to four Canadian universities. At three of these - UBC, Waterloo and Toronto - he has served on the committees of no fewer than 33 PhD students, either as chair, co-chair or member. Also, he has served as Editor of Contemporary Accounting Research for five years (2001-06), and his own academic papers, primarily on corporate social responsibility reporting, have included at least two that have been widely cited. In 2007 he received the CAAA's Falk Award for Advancement of Accounting Thought.
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Guylaine Saucier
Guylaine Saucier has brought very significant credit to the accounting profession through her expertise in corporate governance. From the early 1980s she became increasingly involved in governance, including ten years on the Board of the Bank of Canada, and on its Executive Committee which met weekly. She has served as Director of 18 public companies, and chaired the audit committees of five of them. In 2000/01 she chaired the Joint Committee on Corporate Governance established by the CICA, TSX and CDNX (whose report became known as "the Saucier Report"), and she currently chairs the prestigious Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations.
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