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The Financial Management Institute of Canada began its life as the Federal Financial Officer’s Institute in 1962. It began under the auspices of the Federal Institute of Management and was a forum for senior financial officers. They met in the Gloucester Mess over lunch, often with a speaker followed by a question and answer period, with the aspirations of raising the profile of financial managers within the public service and implementing the recommendations of the Glassco Commission that had inspired the Institute’s creation.
In the early 70’s, membership criteria broadened to include senior members of the FI group. Meetings shifted to the RA Centre, and the growing organization felt a need for a set of more formal rules upon which to guide themselves. The first set of by-laws was agreed upon.
In 1975, then Auditor James J. Macdonell had deep criticism of the financial management of the federal government. Part of the response by financial officers working in the public service was a hope to revitalize and use the fmi*igf as a vehicle to strengthen the financial management community. As a result, membership criteria broadened again to include the entire financial management community within government. In 1975, the first Bulletin was published, which quickly became the lifeline of communication within the Institute. Most importantly, the Institute’s first Professional Development Week (which at the time was called PD Days) was held in cooperation with the Society of Management Accountants. The theme for the first PD Week was “Accountability” – a word that was new at the time, but which would resonate for many years to come.
It was, and still is, a great source of pride to fmi*igf members that, as government employees, the fmi*igf was the first to address the issue of accountability within financial management. Shortly after PD Week, the Lambert Commission on Financial Management and Accountability was established to which the fmi*igf presented its own brief, which was well received and respected. That government financial managers themselves were taking a leading role in the improvement of processes within government was a source of pride for both public service employees and the fmi*igf.
In the late 1970’s it became apparent that fmi*igf could benefit greatly by including provincial government financial management within the mandate of its operations. A proposal to accept regional Chapters was accepted, but it was not until 1982 that the first Chapter started, in Victoria, B.C. Chapters in several other cities quickly followed, including the Capital Chapter in 1985, which is now the largest. In 1982, the fmi*igf took another step in asserting its professionalism by becoming an official corporation.
The 1980’s were a decade of revitalization for the fmi*igf. In 1982, a Past Presidents’ committee was established to advise on strategies and programs, and in 1983 an awards program was established to honour some of our outstanding members. The fmi*igf Award was intended for individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and notable contributions to financial management in government (federal, provincial, or municipal).
In 1987, the PD Week co-sponsorship agreement with the Society of Management Accountants (now the Certified Management Accountants) was re-negotiated with the fmi*igf taking a leading role. The fmi*igf at that time also approached both the CGA and CA associations in addition to the SMA, which, along with the Suppliers Showcase, which had been added in 1983, made PD Week even larger and more informative and relevant than ever.
The fmi*igf celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 1987-88. With that celebration came the fmi*igf journal, which replaced the much-loved Bulletin. In Vol. 1 No 1 - the very first edition of the fmi*igf journal issued in January of 1988, the then President of National, Pat Nephin, in his President’s message, talked about expanding fmi*igf coverage of the issues faced in government through the introduction of this brand new periodical. Today, we know only too well how accurate Pat’s prediction would be, as the quarterly, glossy-style magazine quickly became as indispensable to fmi*igf members as the Bulletin had been – a timely, relevant, and professional publication for anyone involved in public sector financial management.
What were some of the key issues and events that anniversary year?
The fmi*igf held the first “Government Directors of Finance Workshop” - in Montreal. This workshop would turn out to be an intrinsic and invaluable part of the fmi*igf program, and today they continue to be well-received, with participation from officials across Canada at all levels of government.
During that anniversary year, the fmi*igf Awards program was expanded to include the President’s Award for distinguished service to the Institute and the fmi*igf Scholarship Award for sons or daughters of fmi*igf members.
The winner of the first fmi*igf President’s award (1983) was a founder and the first President of the Institute, Guy Cousineau. The following year, the award was presented to Don Yeomans, another individual who had contributed much to financial management. In 1986, Paul Gauvin was recognized for his contribution to the and to government financial management. In 1987 Alan Ross received this prestigious award in recognition of his hard work. As well, the fmi*igf named its first honorary president that year, Mr. Raymond Dubois, who had been instrumental in the organization of the initial fledgling organization that started the fmi*igf.
Vol. 1 No 3 of the fmi*igf journal - the summer edition 1988 - carried Part I of J.Q. McCrindell’s (then Deputy Comptroller General) article on “The Evolution of Financial Control in the Government of Canada”. In this article, Mr. McCrindle provided an excellent description of government roles and processes, including the roles of Parliament (Legislative), Cabinet (Executive), the Treasury Board, the Minister of Finance, the then Supply and Services, Departments and Agencies, the Auditor General, Public Accounts, as well as processes and practices such as the Consolidated Revenue Fund, Estimates and Appropriations, the Budget, Revenues and Expenditures, Public Debt, Accounts and Financial Statements, and Internal Audit and Legislative Audit. Mr. McCrindle also delved into the promulgation of the Financial Administration Act and described its progression from the British North American Act of 1867 to the Consolidated Revenue and Audit Act of 1878 to Sir Henry Drayton’s Statement that the purpose of assets and liabilities is to disclose net debt - 1920 to the Major Revisions to Consolidated Revenue and Audit Act of 1931 to the Financial Administration Act of 1951.
Part II followed in the next edition, covering the Royal Commission’s Report (better known as the Glassco Commission) of 1962, the Government Organization Act of 1966, Amendments to the Financial Administration Act of 1969, the Guide on Financial Administration of 1973, and the Report on the Study of the Accounts of Canada of 1975. This historical capitulation also delved into the Auditor General’s final conclusions on the financial management and control study, as well as the Auditor General Act of 1977, the Amendment of the Financial Administration Act to Establish the Office of the Comptroller General of 1978, the Report of the Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (the Lambert Report), Adjustments to the Accounts Act (Bill c-22), the CICA Public Sector Accounting and Auditing Committee (PSAAC), the Amendments to the Financial Administration Act (Bill c-96) of 1983, the Amendment to Financial Administration Act Control and Accountability of Crown corporations (Bill c-24) of 1984.
1988 saw a new strategic five-year plan conceived to carry the fmi*igf into the 90's, and, in 1991, the National Executive of the fmi*igf hired an Executive Director and opened up its own office. The Capsule was established at that time as a quarterly publication intended to inform members of news from the National Office. In 1992, the Government Directors of Finance Workshop became the Public Sector Financial Management Workshop, to reflect the growing diversity of our membership and the regional quality of the workshop. It was in this year that the comprehensive, five-year strategic plan was refined and written in order to move the Institute forward.
The early 90's saw many new issues facing government, and the fmi*igf demonstrated that the organization was up to the challenge, hosting many seminars on current topics, and the fmi*igf journal carried articles on the issues of the day:
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Performance Measurement - a disciplined approach to setting targets and measuring performance;
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Accrual Accounting in Government - the
beginning of a long debate which would ultimately result in the
implementation of the Financial Information Strategy;
•
FI Standards - “overkill” or “overskill” - entry level requirements for FI’s;
•
Ethical Decision Making -
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Act in the public interest;
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Be non-partisan and politically neutral;
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Do not disclose confidential information;
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Protect the privacy of citizens and employees;
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Provide efficient, effective and fair service to the public;
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Be accountable; and
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Avoid conflicts of interest.
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Control Implications of Public Service
2000 - renewal of the Public Service: trusting people with authority,
providing a positive work environment, emphasizing individual judgment
and initiative in providing better service, and holding public servants
accountable for results; public servants willing to put the client
first, assume more responsibility, challenge old ways, strive for
excellent results, and be accountable for decisions.
•
The creation of the Treasury Board Senior
Advisory Committee (TBSAC) sub-committee on Information Management
(TIMS) to improve on Information Management - common service agencies
to facilitate departmental management of information and information
technology.
•
Smart Card Technology - the idea that a
standard plastic credit card could be hard wired or programmed with
logic and digital storage capability, or “intelligence” and the
prediction that the smart card would change the way we do things.
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The creation of ACIM - Advisory Committee on Information Management
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Challenges for Financial Managers in the ’90's
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Maintaining state of the art knowledge and skills
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Understanding and practicing quality and service management
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Managing Changing Technology
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Assessing and implementing alternative program delivery mechanisms
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Creating new forms of organization and flatter structures
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Facilitating organizational effectiveness
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Increasing productivity
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Understanding globalization, free trade, increased competitiveness
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Developing soft skills (interpersonal, “people” management, leadership, motivation, listening)
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Sustaining hardiness against stress and burnout
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Home and Office of the Future - the
introduction of the idea that a person could connect, through wireless
communications, to one’s work environment irrespective of where that
person may be.
The mid 90's saw more emerging progress and the fmi*igf journal kept its readers informed on the development of the Acquisition Card pilot and eventual implementation, giving managers a “convenient and less burdensome method of procuring and paying for low value goods and services”, as well as “the electronic super highway” capable of “creating highways for multi-dimensional information flows at speeds which match human responsiveness to events”, and “Global Connectivity” - whereby, from your workstation, you can “wander about global space and tap into public information whether stored in a government office, in a university or any other world wide facility subscribing to the Internet”.
“Partnerships” began to emerge - in continuous learning, in system and policy development, from the private sector as well as from the public sector, and many discussions centered on “ensuring a successful partnership”.
The need for capitalization and depreciation of capital property for the Government of Canada became a hot issue which would come to be debated in many forums over the next few years, including discussions of definitions of capital assets, threshold values, components of costs, betterments, amortization methods as well as write downs and appropriations.
In the winter of 1996, then President of the Treasury Board, Art Eggleton, spoke of “getting government right” through the use of Business Plans and the Expenditure Management System, the Financial Information Strategy (FIS), Reform of the Estimates, and Assessment of Programs (Program Review).
By 1997, the Y-2K issue was becoming apparent and fmi*igf journal articles screamed, “Your job is at risk - by the Millenium Bug” - a simple flaw with catastrophic results; the grim reaper waits for no person!
In 1998 we saw the creation of the Independent Review on the Modernization of Comptrollership in the Government of Canada headed by Jean-Pierre Boisclair, and the fmi*igf journal carried a review of the Panel’s key findings - that comptrollership is a management responsibility, not simply a specialist function, an integrating function for both financial and non-financial information - in support of management direction-setting, resource allocation, control and accountability; that comptrollership is a contributor to effective governance, an essential element of the public service “mind-set”. Jean-Pierre Boisclair’s Panel recommended that there be a change in culture that comptrollership must be brought out of the realm of financial specialists and into the domain of the line managers. The Panel also recommended that tools such as risk management, business planning, information systems and performance measurement be modernized to encourage Modern Comptrollership practices. The Panel demonstrated that the essentials of Modern Comptrollership are:
- Leadership
- People
- Values and Ethics
- Performance Information
- Risk Management
- Stewardship, and
- Accountability
By the late 90's we were “Caught in the World Wide Web”, and the focus was on the “information overload” we found ourselves in with the vastness of internet access. Many of us found ourselves saying “Okay, so we’ve build a web site ... now what?”. David Jones’ article in the fall fmi*igf journal issue delved into the complexities of the Web, with technical references to “HTML”, “HotBot”, “GOPHER”, “FTP”, “TALK”, “MUD”, and “hackers”.
As we approached the year 2000, government became much focused on “Beating the Millennium Bug”, the implementation of the Financial Information Strategy, costing services, measuring performance and enhancing accountability.
Today, the fmi*igf continues to keep abreast of government issues facing public servants. This is clearly evident when seminars of the day include Financial Statements, Grants and Contributions, the Expenditure Management System, Government Online, Modern Comptrollership and Financial Policy, and much, much more.
The fmi*igf has continued to offer its membership and participants the very best in quality, current events at low, low prices.
