Integrating foreign-trained professionals : it's time for more action and less red tape
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Quebec City, August 25, 2016 – Today, during its appearance before the members of the Committee on Institutions, which is reviewing the proposal to reform the Professional Code, the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés spoke strongly of the need for more action and less red tape to integrate foreign-trained professionals.
While it applauds the progress made in governance and ethics, which are fully consistent with its own approach, the CPA Order is disappointed that the proposed reform is not more in line with the government’s commitment to ensure better correspondence between the needs of Quebec’s labour market and the contribution of newcomers.
According to the Chair of the Order, André Dugal, FCPA, FCA, “The focus should be on putting mechanisms in place to promote and foster the sharing of best practices and successes in order to change systems and mentalities. Quebec has a right to expect that the competencies of foreign-trained professionals will contribute to the advancement of society as a whole. Everyone, including employers, must join forces to achieve this objective. It’s time to stop increasing controls and compiling data, and to start taking concrete action.”
The CPA Order also provided its views on certain measures put forth in the wake of the Charbonneau Commission. In addition to firmly supporting the proposal that annual dues amount no longer be subject to the approval of professional order members, the Order is also in favour of the proposals to authorize and develop a framework for information sharing between syndics, and to mandate a minimum of ethics and professional conduct training for all professional order members.
In light of current events in the professional community, the Order was quick to point out that the reform of the Professional Code should provide more room for professional order accountability mechanisms and, by extension, the need for the Office des professions to establish performance indicators. “The Office urgently needs indicators to monitor the performance of orders and measure how effective their procedures are at protecting the public,” stated Mr. Dugal. “This weakness, which was identified by the Charbonneau Commission, should be addressed without delay.”
Lastly, on the issue of whistleblowers, the Order is disappointed that legislators continue to implement isolated legislative measures rather than adopting a structured legislative framework to adequately protect public and private sector whistleblowers. As it did during consultations on bills 87 and 92, the Order cautioned members of the National Assembly, reiterating once again that the legislative framework recently adopted in France, which sets out conditions applicable to all whistleblowers regardless of their sphere of activity, stands as an excellent model. The notion of disciplinary immunity proposed in the bill under consideration is not enough to convince a professional to sound the alarm.
About the Quebec CPA Order
The Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec has 38,000 members and 5,600 future CPAs, making it the third largest professional order in Quebec. The Order ensures the protection of the public and the visibility of the profession. It represents all areas of expertise of the accounting profession, including assurance, financial accounting, management and management accounting, finance and taxation.
Read the brief prepared by the Order [+]
Information:
Jean-Louis Laplante
Manager, Public Affairs
Quebec CPA Order
T. 514 288.3256 [3024] 1 800 363.4688
jllaplante@cpaquebec.ca
While it applauds the progress made in governance and ethics, which are fully consistent with its own approach, the CPA Order is disappointed that the proposed reform is not more in line with the government’s commitment to ensure better correspondence between the needs of Quebec’s labour market and the contribution of newcomers.
According to the Chair of the Order, André Dugal, FCPA, FCA, “The focus should be on putting mechanisms in place to promote and foster the sharing of best practices and successes in order to change systems and mentalities. Quebec has a right to expect that the competencies of foreign-trained professionals will contribute to the advancement of society as a whole. Everyone, including employers, must join forces to achieve this objective. It’s time to stop increasing controls and compiling data, and to start taking concrete action.”
The CPA Order also provided its views on certain measures put forth in the wake of the Charbonneau Commission. In addition to firmly supporting the proposal that annual dues amount no longer be subject to the approval of professional order members, the Order is also in favour of the proposals to authorize and develop a framework for information sharing between syndics, and to mandate a minimum of ethics and professional conduct training for all professional order members.
In light of current events in the professional community, the Order was quick to point out that the reform of the Professional Code should provide more room for professional order accountability mechanisms and, by extension, the need for the Office des professions to establish performance indicators. “The Office urgently needs indicators to monitor the performance of orders and measure how effective their procedures are at protecting the public,” stated Mr. Dugal. “This weakness, which was identified by the Charbonneau Commission, should be addressed without delay.”
Lastly, on the issue of whistleblowers, the Order is disappointed that legislators continue to implement isolated legislative measures rather than adopting a structured legislative framework to adequately protect public and private sector whistleblowers. As it did during consultations on bills 87 and 92, the Order cautioned members of the National Assembly, reiterating once again that the legislative framework recently adopted in France, which sets out conditions applicable to all whistleblowers regardless of their sphere of activity, stands as an excellent model. The notion of disciplinary immunity proposed in the bill under consideration is not enough to convince a professional to sound the alarm.
About the Quebec CPA Order
The Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec has 38,000 members and 5,600 future CPAs, making it the third largest professional order in Quebec. The Order ensures the protection of the public and the visibility of the profession. It represents all areas of expertise of the accounting profession, including assurance, financial accounting, management and management accounting, finance and taxation.
Read the brief prepared by the Order [+]
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Information:
Jean-Louis Laplante
Manager, Public Affairs
Quebec CPA Order
T. 514 288.3256 [3024] 1 800 363.4688
jllaplante@cpaquebec.ca
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