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Another year has come and gone, and it's time to introduce the Institute's newest FCAs. Congratulations to each!

Malcolm D. Berg, FCA

"I'm extremely surprised, very pleased, and highly honoured to be elected an FCA," says Malcolm "Mike" Berg, who got the news while sitting poolside in Sydney, Australia.

Berg, who also holds the CA.CIRP designation for specialists in chartered insolvency and restructuring, retired last year as the partner in charge of the Insolvency Practice at Berg, Naqvi & Co., Chartered Accountants in Nelson. A CA since 1961, Berg had worked in public practice his entire career, and had been with this same firm since 1965. (His son Craig is also a CA and has been a partner with the firm since 1992.)

In 2000, Berg won the ICABC's CA of the Year Award (now known as the Community Service Award). He is very active in his community, having served as chairman and trustee of the Kootenay Lake School District from 1970 to 1980 and as president of the BC School Trustees Association (BCSTA) in 1975-1976. In recognition of his service to the educational community, he was made a Life Member of BCSTA and awarded the association's Certificate of Honour.

A long-time Rotarian, Berg served as district governor of District 5080 of Rotary International 2001-2002 (District 5080 includes the south-eastern portion of BC, the western portion of the Idaho state panhandle, and the eastern portion of Washington state). He also served as chair of the District Conference, which hosted over 400 participants. Berg was earlier named the Paul Harris Fellow for the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Award for his year as president of the Nelson Rotary Club in 1990-1991.

"Mike Berg has always been giving of his time and energy to the Nelson Club and Rotary International," says Howard Grant, Nelson Rotary Club president. "Whether it is financial advice or interpretations of the bylaws governing our Rotary Club, Mike is well-respected by his fellow Rotarians. We jokingly call him 'Mr. Rotary.'"

John Cowperthwaite, FCA

"I was absolutely delighted to hear the news that I've been recognized by my peers in BC with an FCA," says John Cowperthwaite.

ICABC's First VP had a distinguished career in public practice for over 42 years. In September 2001, he retired as managing partner of the Vancouver office of Ernst & Young LLP after 36 years with the firm. (His daughter, Julie Cowperthwaite, is currently a co-op student at E&Y in Vancouver.)

Cowperthwaite began his CA career as a student in 1959 in London, England, receiving his designation in 1964. He joined the Toronto office of Clarkson Gordon (later Ernst & Young) in 1965. He became an FCA in Ontario in 1988.

Cowperthwaite has been very active in the profession, both provincially and nationally. He chaired the BC Institute's Task Force on the Attractiveness of the CA Profession in 2001-2002; chaired the National Firms Committee in 1999-2000; and has also been a member of the CA Education Foundation and the Accountants' Professional Liability Task Force. For the Canadian Institute of CAs, Cowperthwaite chaired the 1988 Annual Conference in Newfoundland and the Professional Development Committee (1984-1986).

He has also been involved with the United Way of the Lower Mainland (chairing the Board in 2001) and is currently a governor of Simon Fraser University. Cowperthwaite served as a member of the BC government's Fiscal Review Panel in 2001 and is the current chair of the BC Accounting Policy Advisory Committee. While a resident of Ontario, he was involved with the Dunnington Grubb Foundation, the National Ballet School, the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, the Freeport Hospital in Kitchener, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra.

"John is held in the highest respect by his firm and in the communities in which he has lived," says his E&Y partner Fred G. Withers, CA. "He is a good leader, mentor, and decision maker. John has been an outstanding ambassador for the CA profession."

D. Jeffrey Harder, FCA

A partner with BDO Dunwoody LLP in Vancouver, Jeffrey Harder has been a CA since 1983. He's current the firms National Financial Advisory Services partner.

"This is awesome," Harder says. "I was very surprised when Robin Elliott called me; I was taken aback, but very honoured and very pleased."

One of Canada's leading business valuators, Harder has been very involved with the ICABC and the CICA, as well as with the Canadian Institute of Business Valuators (CICBV). He holds an FCBV designation, having been appointed a Fellow of the CICBV in 1999.

Harder served on the national board of the CICBV from 1992 to 1999 and was the first member from BC to become that organization's national president in 1997. He was instrumental in helping the CICA certify CAs as specialists in business valuations. Harder was also a member of the National Firms Committee and is a current member of the Alliance for Excellence in Investigative and Forensic Accounting. In 1999, he joined the BC Institute's BC Check-Up Advisory Committee, which publishes the BC Check-Up.

Harder completed his undergraduate degree in political science in 1979 at Brandon University, and obtained his CA designation in both Manitoba and BC four years later. He obtained his CMC designation from the Institute of Certified Management Consultants of Canada in 1989; became a senior member of the American Society of Appraisers in 1990; earned his CFE in 1994 from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners;

and in 2000 received the CA*IFA designation for specialists in investigative and forensic accounting. Harder is qualified as an expert witness and has given testimony in the BC Courts; the Tax Court of Canada; before the Competition Tribunal of Canada and the BC Expropriation Compensation Board; and in many private arbitrations under the Forest Act and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

In the community, Harder has been a hockey coach for many years at Hollyburn Country Club, and has served on the organization's administrative committees as well.

"I believe that Jeff Harder is one of our professions outstanding leaders," says Gilles L Chaput, FCA, BDO Dunwoody's CEO. "He is extremely diligent and capable, and a thorough professional in everything he does."

Ronald H. Parks, FCA

"I am completely surprised and deeply honoured to be elected an FCA," says Ron Parks. "I had no idea

I was even nominated. I have to thank my wife Maureen for supporting me through a career change somewhat late in the game, and I want to thank my colleagues at Kroll. They are the best, brightest, and most capable group of young people I've ever worked with."

A principal with Kroll Lindquist Avey, an international firm specializing in forensic and investigative work, Parks has achieved a high profile as a forensic accountant. He holds the CA.IFA designation, and was one of the first CAs to become involved in this area. He's currently on the board of the Alliance for Excellence in Investigative and Forensic Accounting, and is a member of the ICABC's Discipline Tribunal.

A CA since 1983, he began his career with Laventhol & Horwath, Chartered Accountants from 1980 to 1985, and then from 1985-1987 did a stint with Arthur Young in New Zealand. Since 1987, he has been exclusively involved in forensic accounting, first in the forensic group at Ernst & Young LLP, then with the Vancouver office of Lindquist Avey Macdonald Baskerville (now Kroll Lindquist Avey), which he established in 1994.

Working with clients such as the RCMP, the Vancouver Police Department, the Financial Institutions Commission, and the BC Securities Commission, Parks has been involved in many public and high profile assignments, including the Commission Inquiry into cost overruns on the Coquihalla Highway; the review of purchasing practices in BC hospitals; the review of the financial implications of privatizing highway maintenance in BC; and the investigative accounting and financial review of Ridge Meadows Hospital and Health Care Centre.

He is probably best known to the general public as the Ministry of Finance appointee and author of "The Parks Report" on his 1995 investigation into the affairs of the Nanaimo Commonwealth Holding, which sparked a political firestorm the media labelled "Bingogate." Another "Parks Report" was issued in 1999 on behalf of Elections BC. It related to Parks' investigation into the MLA recall campaigns in Prince George North, Skeena, and Comox Valley.