A CMA in orbit

It was a memorable summer for Jacques Côté. He traveled for the first time ever to Cape Canaveral to attend the launch of the space shuttle carrying Julie Payette, who achieved an unprecedented event by joining another Canadian in space, as the world celebrated the 40th anniversary of those unforgettable first steps on the moon! This CMA, who thirsts for knowledge and challenges also has many other reasons to feel satisfied…

Under the satellites

I met Jacques Côté early in the morning in the reception area of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). In this huge space with modern, clean lines, where a few models of satellites hang high above, the Chief Financial Officer arrived, leather jacket on his back and motorcycle helmet in hand. As we entered the security doors and I asked him, a bit astonished, if he often rides a motorcycle, he assured me, “You know, I don’t do it as much as I would like, but many CMAs ride motorcycles.” That may be true, but you can bet that few of them hold the second most important position in an organization such as the Agency and ride their bike to work!

As we headed towards his office, Jacques Côté told me that he also enjoys hiking, snowmobiling, downhill skiing and mountain biking. As we walked, we passed by pictures of shuttles and astronauts, and I asked him if the thrill he gets from these adventurous activities, which he inherited from his family, did not make him want to go into space. A matter of circumstance since astronauts Julie Payette and Bob Thirsk were at that very moment on a mission around the Earth. My host answered categorically, “I can’t even consider the possibility! Like a lot of Gaspesians who grew up on the shores of the Saint Lawrence, I don’t know how to swim very well because the water is too cold to swim in. However, you have to be an excellent swimmer to go into space... But I haven’t given up hope that one day I’ll fly in an F-18!”

How can you refuse?

He doesn’t hide it: Jacques Côté likes to take his chances, which is his way of better analyzing and mastering them. Is that why he became a CMA? “Management accounting fulfills my aspirations. It is the accounting designation that had the potential to satisfy me. What interests me is management, strategic planning and creativity.”

In his early fifties, our CMA has had a lengthy career as a manager for the federal government. In addition to six years in the private sector, he successively held positions at Forestry Canada, the Receiver General for Canada and the Transportation Safety Board. His great thirst for knowledge has allowed him to meet people from many different backgrounds, assimilate wide-ranging expertise and manage projects with huge challenges. Everywhere he has gone, he has built a reputation for his ability to improve processes.

Then came the irresistible offer to support the Agency as it implemented a new project management policy. “The Treasury Board asked the new President, astronaut Steve MacLean, to strengthen project management. He asked me to work on this and I told him that I was his man.”

Jacques Côté then moved from the federal capital to the Montreal region at the beginning of 2009, since the CSA headquarters are located in Saint Hubert. “My main job is to implement a more rigorous project management process that will make it possible to better guide and plan scientific research. By focusing on continuous improvement, we ask ourselves the right questions and know exactly where we are going. CSA may be one of the smallest space agencies, but it makes a huge contribution to the aerospace industry, especially in robotics and optics and the development of scientific instruments and remote sensing.”

Millions on the work table

Once we were seated in his office, the CMA spoke enthusiastically about the two Canadian arms, the one on the shuttle and the one on the space station, which, a few days earlier, worked together with the Japanese arm to install a platform fixed to the outside of the Japanese Kibo lab. Although he did not know anything about the aerospace industry in the beginning, he soon found a way to satisfy his curiosity: he frequently tours the premises, asks a bunch of questions and even sometimes shares his opinion in highly scientific discussions. “I come into contact with really exciting people. They have their expertise and I offer them mine.”

As Chief Financial Officer, Jacques Côté is in charge of financial strategy, project management, supply management and strategic planning. Risk management is also an important aspect of the work under his responsibility. “Here, everything is extremely risky, whether we’re talking about the departure of the shuttle or the launch of a satellite. Every project, every space launch involves years of research and hundreds of millions of dollars. The Agency’s scientists can expect to receive excellent support from the some 100 employees under my direction. The Executive Committee counts on me to present numbers that are perfectly reliable.”

Next, Jacques Côté gave me a tour of the premises. Who could say no to that? He was visibly glad to show me the laboratories and astronaut training rooms. We arrived at the Space Mission Centre, a room that is closed to the public, where big screens show you in real time what astronauts are working on and around the space station. Jacques Côté was proud and happy. A few minutes earlier, he was also proud and happy to talk to me about his children: a daughter who teaches physiotherapy at Université de Sherbrooke and a son who is a civil engineer. He then told me about his life view.

“For me, the destiny of the planet depends on improving humankind. I have always worked so that my children would fulfill their desires and succeed in their studies and achievements. That is an individual quest that demands constant effort, but relatively easy to accomplish.”

Faith helps bring progress

“Is it your view of “continuous improvement” that drove you to get involved in the CMA Order?” I asked him next. “I am a practical man. When someone asks me to participate in something, I generally say yes. I agreed to sit on the Board of the Order in return for everything it has given me: an accounting designation with added value.” The result is that Jacques Côté has now been involved for 25 years at all levels of the Order, even as Chairman of the Board. Today, he still sits on the Board of Directors of CMA Canada.

“If I didn’t believe in what I am doing, I just wouldn’t do it. As Chair of the Board of Directors of the Order, I worked a lot on merging all of the accounting orders. Just like the engineers and doctors, I believe in one single professional order that includes all fields of practice. Each specialization – management accounting and public accountancy – would retain its specificity and the public would feel safer and more confident,” maintains the CMA who was named Fellow in 2003, a recognition of his involvement that he values very much.

We returned to the reception area where Jacques Côté prepared to say goodbye to me. I had met an energetic and determined man who is not afraid to make his ideas a reality, or at least try to make them a reality. Outside, the weather was stormy. Before leaving me, my host pointed to the sky: “Whenever I can, I watch the space station pass at night. That thrills me because as surprising as it may seem, it works!”