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ACFO @ FMI PD Week
November 25, 2004 Speech
(Introduction: Jim Currier, Executive vice President of the Association of Canadian Financial Officers)
Thank you very much.
(If no introduction: Hi, my name is Jim Currier, and I am a board member and the executive vice president of the Association of Canadian Financial Officers, or ACFO.)
First off, I'd like to say, on behalf of our Board, that it is our pleasure to sponsor this great event and today's luncheon. We have been doing so for quite a number of years now, and I would like to thank the organizers for doing such a great job, year after year.
Before we will all enjoy our lunch, I'd like talk to you for a few minutes about our organization, who we are, what we do, and where it is going in future.
ACFO represents about 3000 financial officers of all different levels in 54 federal government departments. The majority of our members hold professional accounting designations and/or business degrees. Two-thirds of our members are located in the National Capital Region, with the balance being located in the regions. I am very pleased to see that some of our members are here today.
 Our members' tasks within the federal government include providing advice on financial management issues and impact of management proposals and actions, they oversee financial management systems and operations such as accounting control and financial reporting. They undertake financial planning and analysis, as well as developing financial policies and systems. For the most part our members are engaged in the full range of activities associated with Comptrollership function.
In essence, we are on the front lines, ensuring that the Government's financial control framework is upheld.
We believe that over the 15 years of our existence, we have been very successful in fulfilling our original mandate; to advance and defend the interests of our members in terms of compensation, benefits, and status within the federal public service. And we will continue to do so.
Over the last few years, we have been working hard towards broadening our scope.
ACFO is breaking new ground, in a number of areas.
The most important new initiative we are pursuing is to act as a catalyst in improving financial control systems of the federal government.
Last year, at this same occasion, we told you about the publication of  our first "Checks and Balances" discussion paper. We believed that in light of scandals and allegations of financial impropriety that had called into question the adequacy of these financial controls, there was a strong call for out organization to formally react. This belief was only strengthened by the Auditor General's report. So we asked our members to contribute their first-hand accounts of day-to-day practices that they believed were not completely compliant with policy.
The paper was not only a reaction, however, but also recommended actions that we felt the federal government should undertake to make the system more accountable. The most important recommendation from last year's paper was the re-establishment of an independent Office of the Comptroller General. As you might know, this has since happened.
Obviously, it wasn't just our recommendation that resulted in the re-establishment of the comptroller general. But by contributing our collective voice to the discussion, we were a positive force that ensured that this important step was taken. And we are proud to be part of this change. We do, however, believe that more needs to be done.
Our members had more to say than we could fit in one paper. This summer, our second paper in the Checks and Balances series was launched. We expect that this second report, entitled Accountability and Liability under the Financial Administration Act, will garner the same kind of favourable reaction, and most importantly, will help catalyze further change.
 I won't elaborate too much about this Financial Administration Act, but it basically defines the roles and responsibilities for the management and accountability of public resources. It requires a separation of duties in the payment certification and verification functions. We have found that in quite some cases, financial officers are directly involved in both these functions. Even if you are not too familiar with the workings of the federal government, it should be clear that this is part of a larger issue that has been attracting much public scrutiny in the recent past.
We believe these issues of accountability are important and need to be addressed, and we are making every effort to bring our observations and recommendations to the attention of senior decision makers within the federal government. In order to open up the dialogue further, we have scheduled meetings with Members of Parliament off all political colour who have shown interest in these issues, and work together towards solutions.
If you are interested in any of these papers or would like more information about our work, you can visit us at our booth, or speak to any of our board members in attendance here today.
I hope you're all enjoying the conference in beautiful Ottawa, and hereby I would like to end my spiel and say "bon appetite". Enjoy your lunch everybody.
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