Montreal, November 30, 2011 – Some 320 people attended the CMA Ambassadors Gala on November 18, which honoured the 85 graduates of the CMA and CMA-MBA Executive Programs and the eleven new recipients of the title of Fellow.
In his speech at this event, Charles Auger, FCMA, Chair of the Order's Board of Directors, pointed out that all of the guests shared an attachment to the CMA profession, "a dynamic and constantly changing profession that has legitimized the importance of management accounting." In the event that the unification of the accounting profession does actually become a reality on April 1, the Chair of the Board also reminded the audience that management and management accounting will be one of the two main areas of expertise in the new unified profession, along with assurance and financial accounting. “I am convinced that management accounting will continue to expand its sphere of influence and gain in popularity," stated Mr. Auger.
Eleven outstanding ambassadors of the CMA profession
The achievements and success of the Fellows and graduates of the CMA and CMA-MBA Executive Programs play an instrumental role in increasing the influence of the CMA profession. Both at universities, with Sylvain Houle, Professor at ESG UQAM, Serge Rioux, Lecturer at ESG UQAM, and Eduardo Schiehll, Associate Professor at HEC Montréal, and in the business world, with Christian Babbini, Vice President, Management Accounting Solutions at Decimal, Marc Bélanger, President and founder of Qualité Investissements, Guy Blanchette, Chief Financial Officer of Industries Lassonde, Martial Gagné, President of New Look Eyewear, Luc Godin, Senior Consultant at Optima Management, Nathalie Houle, Principal Director, Business Performance at the Desjardins Group, Jean Jobin, Executive Vice President, Away from Home Products – North America, at the Cascades Tissue Group, and Robert Verreault, Plant Manager at Bridgestone Canada, these eleven new Fellows (FCMA) recently named by the Order now join the 101 others who form the elite of the profession in Quebec.
A large cohort of 85 graduates from the CMA and CMA-MBA Executive Programs
As for the graduates of the CMA and CMA-MBA Executive Programs, this year's 85 join the group of high-level financial managers who have opted for this exclusive combination in the executive training market. This is the largest cohort of graduates since the creation of the programs about twelve years ago, which shows that they have a prime position in the market and meet the real needs of financial managers and employers. Alain Paquet, Quebec’s Minister for Finance, also attended the Gala to welcome the CMAs and salute the perseverance and determination of the 85 new graduates. It should be noted that the CMA and CMA-MBA Executive Programs are the preferred medium of many foreign professionals to break into the job market. In fact, people from or trained outside Canada now make over 50% of the clientele of these programs.
Prizes and honours
During the evening, the CMA Order Foundation also presented the Fernand-Cloutier Award to a team of graduates from the CMA and CMA-MBA Executive Programs that earned the best results in the final stage of the CMA accreditation process, which is the Report to the Board of Directors. The members of the winning team, which include Mélanie Dubé, CMA, Senior Operations Advisor at Montfort Hospital, Ludovic Noubissi Kamche, CMA, Financial Advisor at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Marcel Poirier, CMA, Director of Accounting Operations at Statistics Canada, Michel Rodrigue, CMA, Chief Information Officer at the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, and Éric Trottier, CMA, Manager, Cost Accounting and Performance Measurement, at Public Works and Government Services Canada, all received a medal of honour and a $6,000 scholarship to be divided up equally among them.
Among the CMA Order’s main ambassadors of the profession is the company that won the National Recognition Award, which was given this year to the Desjardins Group for its outstanding contribution to the growth of the CMA profession and the advancement of management accounting.
Finally, Jacques Côté, FCMA, Special Advisor at the Canadian Space Agency, received the Mérite from the Quebec Interprofessional Council for his remarkable contribution to his order and the professional system in Quebec. Mr. Côté chaired the Board of Directors of the Order in 2002-2003.
The Ordre des comptables en management accrédités du Québec, which has some 10,000 members and candidates to the profession, provides leadership to the CMA profession through the enforcement of high standards intended to enhance the performance of organizations. CMAs create value within organizations through an integrated and systematic approach to strategic and financial management.
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Photos available upon request (media only).
Source:
Quebec CMA Order
Information:
Ginette Bourbonnais
Media Relations
514 849-1155 or 1 800 263-5390, extension 246
g.bourbonnais@cma-quebec.org