Short Bio

My positions as a member of CPA Ontario Council, the Certification 2.0 Advisory Team and Co-Director of the Professional Masters Programs at the University of Waterloo have allowed me to interact with students, employers and educators from across Ontario. From these interactions, I have had the opportunity to hear about many of the technological, financial and societal issues facing students, educators, CPA members and society.

In addition, in my roles as a senior financial officer, director and CEO of various organizations, I have developed the business acumen and entrepreneurial mindset to help organizations navigate and succeed in dynamic situations.

Detailed Bio

Voluntary work with CPA Ontario or other professional bodies:

• Certification 2.0 Advisory Group (2023-Present)   
• CPA Canada Income Tax Education Committee (2020-Present)
• CPA Ontario Council Member (2019-Present) 
• CBV Institute – Presentation for Professional Development Program on the topic "Key Elements of US Tax Reform for Canadians" (2018)

Career achievements:

• Board Member, The Emanuel Berg Group (2024-Present)
• Co-Director Professional Masters Programs (including Master of Tax and Master of Accounting Programs) – University of Waterloo (2025)
• Co-Director Master of Accounting Program – University of Waterloo (2020-2025) 
• Founder and Board Chair, CEO and CFO – Big Sky Hospitality Ltd. (2010-2022)
  
  • 11 Montana's Franchised Restaurants in Calgary and Edmonton with 700 employees and $30 million of revenues at highest point in 2016
• VP Finance, Swiss Chalet and Harvey's Divisions – Cara Operations Limited (2007-2010)
• Secretary, VP Finance and Administration and Acting CFO – Sleeman Breweries Ltd. (2002-2006)

Other professional accomplishments:

• Contributor – Introduction to Federal Income Taxation in Canada Textbook, Wolters Kluwer, Toronto (2021-Present)
• Associate Director of the Waterloo Centre for Taxation in a Global Economy – University of Waterloo (2017-2023)

Other voluntary service and recognition:

• Board Member and Audit Committee Member – United Way Waterloo Region Communities (2025) 
• Board Member and Treasurer – Cobra Swim Club, Brampton, Ontario (2017-2019)

Candidate statement

Why are you interested in joining Council?

I would like to rejoin Council for a third term to assist CPA Ontario as it leads the profession that is navigating dynamic, high profile and high-risk areas, including the governance of the profession in Canada, the rollout of Certification 2.0, the impact of artificial intelligence on education and the profession, and the changing relationship with the United States. I believe my active involvement on Council over the last two terms, my unique Post-Secondary Institution perspectives and contacts, and my entrepreneurial experience, will allow me to be a significant contributor to Council, as it provides strategic direction and support for the management team at CPA Ontario.

In addition to knowing that I am giving back to the profession and society by being on Council, I enjoy being a member of Council because I have the opportunity to interact with the committed, hard-working, professional and knowledgeable members of Council and CPA Ontario’s management team. These interactions have provided me with incredible personal and professional growth opportunities.

How do your experiences align with the following skills, attributes and experiences that have been prioritized for incoming members of Council?

• Strategic and Transformational Leadership
• Emerging Technologies
• Future of Learning and Work
• Business Acumen

In terms of the Future of Learning and Work, as the Co-Director of Professional Masters Programs at the University of Waterloo, I interact everyday with stakeholders of the profession. Those interactions with students and professional and industry representatives allow me to have insight into the forces shaping our collective future in real time. I get timely insights into how we should be educating our students and training our members to be leaders in addressing those forces. As a result, I have been involved in the Certification 2.0 Working Group and the CPA Canada Income Tax Education Committee (ITEC) AI Working Group in the last two years. In addition, in the past year, I have been part of a strategy team that has been charged with considering how the undergraduate and graduate accounting programs at the University of Waterloo will be redesigned, addressing the changes in the Competency Map and AI’s impacts on education and the profession. As a result, I would be able to bring significant knowledge to the Council discussions in these areas.

In terms of emerging technologies, after years of leading our tax group’s integration of data analytics into our tax courses, I have been involved extensively over the past year as we introduced AI into our tax curriculum at the University of Waterloo. Our tax group has actively embraced using AI tools as a way to improve the educational experience and the practical tax knowledge and competencies of our students.

I have had senior management and ownership positions in 11 Montana’s Restaurants and the Emanuel Berg Group. These positions have provided me with the business acumen to operate businesses in dynamic environments where change is constant. I have organized these companies and raised financing, developed teams and reporting systems, led strategic and risk management discussions and managed businesses. I have learned the importance of adding value to businesses and communicating with stakeholders.

Further evidence of my business acumen was evident in my position as the Senior Financial Officer of Sleeman Breweries, a public company during the years that I worked there. That role also provided me with a wealth of experience in strategic and transformational leadership as the organization went from a premium craft brewer to a brewer of craft, discount and contract beers, resulting in a tripling of sales in the eight years I worked at the company.

What is the greatest opportunity and challenge facing the accounting profession and CPA Ontario?

The high-risk areas facing the profession noted above all present our profession and CPA Ontario with great opportunities and risks in term of relevance to our students, members, business and society. We can lead the profession in ensuring that these stakeholders view CPAs as trusted and competent advisers in these dynamic financial and technological times, while resolving our governance and certification transition issues in a way that benefits all stakeholders. Doing so will allow CPAs to grow their position as the go-to business professionals in Canada and the destination of choice for students who will be tomorrow’s leaders. If we are unable to efficiently and effectively move forward with the profession’s governance and certification changes, fail to embrace new technologies (including AI and whatever comes next) or avoid uncertainty, the best and brightest students will look elsewhere for a career and business, and society will search for other trusted business advisors.