Mike Hawkes, Chief Financial Officer (CFO),Public Works and Government Services Canada

Mike Hawkes was appointed the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) in September 2006.  As the CFO, he is accountable for ensuring that departmental finances are managed with both prudence and probity, within the financial control frameworks of the Government of Canada (GoC) and the Department. The Finance Branch, which he leads, provides professional financial management advice and guidance to all branches of PWGSC as well as operational accounting and reporting services.  It also oversees the development and implementation of a new Financial Management Framework.

Return to Event 3-1

Edward de Sousa, Executive Director, Financial Management,Health Canada

Mr. Edward de Sousa, is the Executive Director, Financial Management within the Chief Financial Officer Branch in Health Canada.  He joined Health in 1999 from Transport Canada and has held several key positions within the CFO organization.  First as the Director of Planning Analysis and Reporting, which included responsibility for resource management and operational planning at the corporate level touching everything from the MC's TB submissions, Main and Supplementary Estimates, DPR.  More recently in his position as the Executive Director, Financial Management Mr. de Sousa is responsible for providing financial management services to the Health Canada branches through a branch senior Financial officer network.  Also in his currently role Mr. de Sousa is been a champion of many of the improvements in Health's Financial Management Control Framework.  He has a unit which is devoted solely to identifying and implementing improvement in current practices and responding to new expectations from Central Agencies related to the FedAA and the Policy Suite Renewal.  His presentation today will touch upon one of these significant changes currently underway within Health Canada. 

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Paul G. Cherry, FCA, Chair, Accounting Standards Board of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants

Mr. Paul G. Cherry was appointed Chair of the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) in May 2001. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Queen’s University and received his CA designation in 1974 at which time he became a Member of the Institute of Ontario. In 1991, Mr. Cherry became a Fellow with the Ontario Institute of Chartered Accountants and in 2000 he became a Fellow with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of New Brunswick.
 
Mr. Cherry has over 25 years experience in public accounting. He has served as Chief Accountant of the Ontario Securities Exchange, Senior Technical Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto and Director of National Accounting and Auditing Services of Coopers & Lybrand. Mr. Cherry also served as a Canadian Representative on the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) and chaired the IASC Standing Interpretations Committee from 1997-2001. Mr. Cherry is also a former member and chair of the CICA Emerging Issues Committee.

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Andrew Newman, CA, Partner, Audit, Public Sector Practice, KPMG Ottawa

Mr. Andrew Newman is an Audit Partner in the Public Sector Practice of KPMG.  He provides audit and advisory services to federal government departments and agencies in the areas of audit readiness, financial audits, accounting policies, internal control procedures and financial reporting. Over the past 10 years, Mr. Newman has provided these services to many departments and agencies including, Transport Canada, Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Canada Revenue Agency (CCRA), Finance Canada, Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG) and Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Mr. Newman was the Partner responsible for the first completed departmental audit readiness assessments at Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and Justice Canada. He is also currently a member of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA).

Return to Event 3-2

Richard J. Neville, FCA, Canada’s voting member on the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board

Mr. Richard J. Neville recently retired as Vice-President (Finance and Administration) and Chief Financial Officer of the Royal Canadian Mint. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alterna Bank, Director of Alterna Savings, External Audit Member of the Canadian Security Services Agency and the Canadian Border Services Agency, Chair of the Pension Committee of St-John’s Ambulance and he sits on their Financial and Administration Committee as well.
 
Mr. Neville began his career in the Public Service in 1972 as a Systems Analyst with National Health and Welfare before moving to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as a Financial Project Officer in 1974.
 
From 1977 to 1979, Mr. Neville held the position of Director, Financial Services, Medical Services Branch, National Health and Welfare. In 1979, he joined Supply and Services Canada where he held a number of senior level positions including Comptroller for the department, Regional Director General for both the Québec and Western Regions and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services.
 
Following his career at Supply and Services Canada, in 1993, Mr. Neville held the positions of Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Policy and Planning and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services at Public Works and Government Services Canada until returning to the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as Assistant Comptroller General and Assistant Secretary in August 1995.

From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Neville held the position of Deputy Comptroller General of Canada.
 
Mr. Neville was an active member and a past President of the Financial Management Institute of Canada (FMI).
 
Mr. Neville obtained a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Montréal, Loyola College, and completed post-graduate studies in accounting and auditing at McGill University.  He also obtained his designation as a Chartered Accountant while articling with Clarkson, Gordon & Company, Chartered Accountants. In February 2001, Mr. Neville was appointed a Fellow of the Order of Chartered Accountants of Québec and conferred the initials F.C.A.
 
Mr. Neville has been a member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (IPSASB) and its predecessor, the Public Sector Committee, since 2002. He was nominated by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA).  Prior to this, Mr Neville had also served for many years as a member of the Public Sector Accounting Board of the CICA.

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John Rossetti, CA, Assistant Auditor General, Office of the Auditor General of Canada  

Mr. John Rossetti is an Assistant Auditor General with the Officer of the Auditor General of Canada.  He is responsible for overseeing the audits conducted by the Office of the Canada Revenue Agency.  These include financial audits, performance audits, and audits of control procedures in place at the Agency. His financial auditing experience includes a number of Crown corporations and other separate opinions.  He has also completed special examinations of both large and small Crown corporations.  Mr. Rossetti has considerable experience in attest methodology, and was recently appointed the Product Leader for the Office’s Annual Attest Practice.
 
He has previous experience in setting assurance standards, and was recently appointed to the CICA’s Auditing and Assurance Standards Board for a three-year term. 
 
Mr. Rossetti also has international audit experience, having just completed a four-year term as a member of the Board of Auditors of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. 
 
Also, he holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics) degree and a Master of Business Administration, and is a Chartered Accountant.

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Arn van Iersel, FCGA, Professional Financial Consultant and Advisor

Mr. Arn van Iersel is a graduate of the University of Calgary with an honours degree in economics.  He also undertook graduate studies at the same university and is a Certified General Accountant.
 
Mr. van Iersel was with both the Alberta and British Columbia governments in a public service career of over 31 years. He has held various senior positions both in finance and in program delivery.  In the Province of British Columbia, M. van Iersel worked in Treasury Board, Financial Services and Administration, Provincial Treasury, Ministry of Human Resources, the Office of the Comptroller General, and as Associate Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
 
Mr. van Iersel has been a Senior Financial Officer, an Executive Financial Officer, Comptroller General, and Acting Auditor General for British Columbia.
 
As of June 2007 Arn left the BC government to pursue his personal interests in the promotion of sound financial practices in government. He is currently working on a number of projects in the finance area including a project done in collaboration between CCAF and Comptroller General Offices in Canada and international jurisdictions. He also has been involved in financial training both in British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada. Other areas of expertise include financial policy and board governance.
 
Mr. van Iersel has been an active member and participant in FMI and was given an award of excellence by FMI national in 2006. He is a past member of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB), of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants having completed his three-year term in March of 2008. 
 
In recognition of his public service and contributions to the profession, he has been named a fellow of the Certified General Accountants Association.

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Bill Matthews, CA, Executive Director, Government Accounting Policy and Reporting, Office of the Comptroller General of Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat    

Mr. Bill Matthews is a Chartered Accountant and has over 20 years of experience in accounting and financial management in both the public and private sectors. He has worked with all levels of government in Canada and with governments of several other countries on financial reporting improvement initiatives He is currently the Executive Director of the Government Accounting Policy and Reporting Division of Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Present responsibilities include responsibility for the Government of Canada's accounting polices including departmental financial statements, and the consolidated financial statements of the Government of Canada. Mr. Matthews is a member of the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) Task Force on the Statement of Recommended Practice on reporting related to the Assessment of Tangible Capital Assets.

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Alex Beraskow, P.Eng., MBA, CMC is a partner within IT/Net. He has been providing expert (most times) management consulting services to the Government of Canada for the past 28 years. In addition, he has completed over 2 dozen internal audits – mainly comprehensive and value based.

He started his career with IBM in 1969 and since then has worked with Royal Trust after spending several years in Australia (when he wasn’t barbequing shrimp he was working with computers). He has also been part of the University of Ottawa faculty, teaching courses (accounting, MIS) in the evening.

He started IT/Net in 1992. Since then, IT/Net has become the most award winning consulting firm in Canada.

Return to Event 3-3

Shelley Senova is a Senior Managing Consultant with IBM’s Public Sector Financial Management Practice.  She is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years of experience in assisting clients with financial management and audit challenges.  Prior to joining IBM, Ms. Senova worked as a Principal in the Chief Review Services Branch of the Department of National Defence (DND) where she was responsible for managing a wide range of comprehensive and operational audits and reviews.  She also spent six years with the financial audit practice of a large public accounting firm where she played a senior management role in the planning, conduct and delivery of financial audits for private sector companies. More recently, her focus has been on business risk management and performance management in the federal government.

 Return to Event 3-3

Sylvie Turcotte is a Solutions Consultant at SAP Canada, specializing in Financials and associated SAP applications. She has been working at SAP for the past 8 years and working with SAP Financial systems for 13 years. Sylvie has an incredible understanding of the Public Sector through working with various departments such as Treasury Board Secretariat/Finances, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Agriculture Canada, Canadian Heritage and Department of National Defence. Sylvie uses her good sense of humor and joie de vivre to create a constructive environment where understanding technology becomes a unique and memorable experience. Sylvie is fluently bilingual and holds a Bachelor in Computer Science from the Université du Québec a Chicoutimi (UQAC).

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Michelle Causton, MBA, FCGA

After working in public accounting for over 25 years, Michelle accepted a position of Professor of Accounting in the business department at Canadore College in 1999. Her course focus is management accounting and taxation.
 
Michelle authored Governance - An Overview. This three-part article was published on the Certified General Accountant’s professional development network - PD Net (an innovative, Web-based resource that provides a broad range of professional development information designed to keep members current on issues and developments within the accounting profession).
 
A frequent spokesperson on ethics and leadership to audiences of professional accountants, Michelle delivered an address in Ottawa at the 12th Annual Conference of the CGA Accounting Research Centre and to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean.

Return to Event 3-4