Shed invincibility cloak, instead play to strengths

The cloak of invincibility is the clothing of choice for many women working their way up the corporate ladder in male-dominated professions. It’s a garment woven of strength and tenacity, and one that announces its wearer will show no weakness or vulnerability as she battles her way through the world.

But from the pinnacle of her male-dominated urban planning profession, Jennifer Keesmaat argues that it is a garment women need to shed.

"I’d like to suggest that invincibility is the enemy of our greatest asset, and that is our ability to nurture and to collaborate," she told attendees of the recent CMA Ontario Women in Business conference. "We need to lead in new ways, and new ways means embracing the people around us."

CGA Canada is back in talks on unification

A year after pulling out of merger talks, the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada has returned to the table with their national counterparts. While CGA-Canada says it is responding to a trend, the affiliate in Canada’s largest province is still having no part of it, and giving no indications CGA Ontario ever will.

"CGA Ontario is disappointed that the national organization has taken this action given that more than 50 per cent of Canada’s CGAs are not participating in merger discussions," said CGA Ontario’s chief executive officer Doug Brooks in Toronto.

But Anthony Ariganello, the president and chief executive officer of CGA-Canada in Vancouver, said it was necessary. "The landscape has changed significantly with the majority of our affiliates now having merged, or agreed to merge, or in merger talks. Clearly, the direction for the majority of the country is towards CPA. My board couldn’t ignore that," he said.