Greg is Chair of the CPA Alberta Board and Vice President, Valuations, Forensics & Litigation Support with MNP LLP in Calgary.
I always had an interest in business and accounting is the language of business.
Something people wouldn’t know about me? I was an RCMP officer for many years prior to joining MNP. That has shaped my career by ensuring a focus on continuous improvement. In turn, that allows me to make a better contribution to my clients and the volunteer organizations I serve.
You need to always keep advancing your knowledge, skills and experience.
Policing teaches you a lot about people that you can apply in any setting.
You also learn to judge conduct and ideas rather than people. You focus on what people are saying and doing, as opposed to their history.
I have been involved in the unification talks since the beginning. I felt strongly about it back then and still do. Working at a firm with a wide variety of accountants really shaped me, and I saw that each person brings something different, regardless of his or her designation.
The unification discussions and the process affirmed in my mind that the different training paths had evolved to the point where they had more similarities than differences.
Priorities for my term as Chair? First and foremost, we have to make sure CPA Alberta demonstrates the value of the process to members.
Now that we have built this CPA profession, what can we do with it? Where can we collectively make a difference? How can what we do make the lives of our members and the public better?
“My vision is that, as a unified profession, we can move beyond competition and start to influence the business community, government, and the economy.”—Greg Draper FCPA, FCGA
I want us to be able to shape circumstances, rather than just react.
I will know we’ve gotten to where we need to be when inside and outside the organization and profession we stop describing ourselves as anything other than CPAs.
Ten years from now, we may not even recognize the profession. There are a lot of changes coming—technological, generational, work environment—that will be disruptive. When I talk to new accountants at the firm, I tell them that if they stay with us and make partner, it likely may be in a service line that doesn’t even exist today.
We can all learn something from everyone we meet.
This article appeared in the Fall Issue of Dividends, CPA Alberta’s magazine for members.
