Accounting Standards Board
Voting members
Gord Fowler – Chair
Linda Mezon – Vice-Chair
Anish Chopra
Brian Drayton
Lara Gaede
Karen Higgins
Gale Kelly
Michel Magnan
Jocelyn Patenaude
Adam Sheparski
Non-voting members
Paul Cherry
Peter Martin
Staff contact
Harry Klompas
Gord Fowler, FCPA, FCA
Appointed: April 1, 2005
Term expires: June 30, 2013
CHAIR
Gord Fowler was appointed Chair of the Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) in November 2010. He previously served as the Vice Chair of the AcSB.
Gord retired from KPMG LLP as the National Partner-in-Charge for Accounting Standards. In this role, he focused on significant accounting and securities practice issues facing the firm's clients, including major public company clients.
Gord has extensive experience in the areas of International Financial Reporting (IFRSs) and was a member of the KPMG International IFRS Panel. He is also Co-Chair of the Securities Regulations Advisory Group and was Chair of the AcSB’s Foreign Currency Translation Task Force.
Gord qualified as a Chartered Accountant in Alberta in 1973. He started his accounting career with KPMG in 1971 in Calgary, and has been in the Toronto, New York and National Offices of KPMG. In 2000, Gord was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.
Gord lives in Toronto.
Linda Mezon, CPA, CA, MBA, CPA (MI), CGMA
Appointed: January 1, 2013
Term expires: March 31, 2016
VICE-CHAIR
Linda Mezon is the Chief Accountant at the Royal Bank of Canada, where she is responsible for the interpretation and application of IFRSs and U.S. GAAP. Linda also monitors compliance with Canadian regulatory requirements on financial disclosure, in addition to being responsible for auditor independence. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of IFRSs, representing both the preparer and standard setter points of view.
Previously, Linda held senior positions in such other companies as Nortel Networks, Bell Mobility, Glaxo-Wellcome Inc., Motorola Cellular Canada, Ltd., and Federal Mogul Corporation. She also has four years combined experience in public accounting, with Coopers & Lybrand in Canada and Price Waterhouse in the U.S.
Linda was recently appointed as the AcSB Chair, effective July 1, 2013, and is currently serving as the Vice-Chair to facilitate this transition. She served as an AcSB member from 2004-2012.
Linda lives in Toronto.
Anish Chopra, CPA, CA, CFA, CBV
Appointed: April 1, 2013
Term expires: March 31, 2016
Anish Chopra is a Managing Director at TD Asset Management Inc., where he has overall supervisory responsibility for its Canadian Value, Core Canadian Equity and Target Return teams. Anish also has lead management responsibilities on the TD Canadian Value Fund for TD Mutual Funds and the Target Return strategies for both TD Mutual Funds and TD Waterhouse Private Investment Counsel.
Prior to this, Anish worked as a member of TD Securities Inc.’s mergers and acquisitions group and also practiced public accounting. He is an active volunteer in the investment industry, and is currently involved as a member in various capacities with the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst Association.
Anish lives in Richmond Hill.
Brian Drayton, FCA, BComm, CMC
Appointed: April 1, 2008
Term expires: March 31, 2014
Brian Drayton leads the MNP LLP audit practice in Regina. He has over 33 years of experience in providing assurance services and sound business advice to private enterprises and not-for-profit organizations, including helping them meet their financial reporting and compliance requirements. Brian also has experience working with large, multi-location public company clients, as well as crown corporations and the public sector in Saskatchewan. Throughout his professional life, Brian has been passionate about the financial reporting process and assisting organizations with preparing financial reports that are informative and understandable to users.
Brian's service delivery to the private sector has included external audit and review engagements, internal audit assistance, corporate governance, risk management, forensic reviews, feasibility studies and other business advisory services.
In 1992, he obtained his Certified Management Consultant designation and was awarded an FCA in 1998.
Brian lives in Regina.
Lara Gaede, CA, CFA
Appointed: April 1, 2012
Term expires: March 31, 2015
Lara Gaede has been with the Alberta Securities Commission for most of her career and is currently its Chief Accountant. In her position, Lara exercises her wide breadth of accounting knowledge of various industries with focus on oil and gas, and the practical implication of regulations on issuers. She is part of the senior executive team responsible for considering and approving policy decisions and making strategic and operational decisions. Lara is not a representative of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) in her capacity as an AcSB member.
In addition, Lara sits on various committees, including the AcSB’s IFRS Discussion Group, and Chairs the CSA Chief Accountants Committee. Prior to taking on her current role as Chief Accountant, Lara worked as a Senior Manager at Ernst & Young, the Chief Accountant at the Cimarron Engineering Consultants Ltd., and was a Senior Associate at Coopers & Lybrand.
Lara lives in Calgary.
Karen Higgins, FCPA, FCA
Appointed: November 1, 2010
Term expires: March 31, 2014
Karen Higgins is the National Director of Accounting Services for Deloitte & Touche LLP Canada. She is responsible for the firm’s accounting consultation network, focusing on all aspects of Canadian GAAP. She oversees the technical component for learning, compliance and marketplace materials relating to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), accounting standards for private enterprises and public sector accounting standards.
Karen is a member of Deloitte’s IFRS leadership team and the national subject matter specialist for financial instruments, hedging and derivatives. She is Chair of the AcSB’s IFRS Discussion Group, participates in the Canadian Securities Administrator’s Financial Reporting and Advisory Committee, and was previously a member of the AcSB’s Emerging Issues Committee.
Karen lives in Toronto.
Gale Kelly, FCPA, FCA
Appointed: April 1, 2012
Term expires: March 31, 2015
Gale Kelly has worked for KPMG LLP since 1991 and is currently a Partner in its Department of National Assurance and Professional Practice. In her role, she assists engagement teams and clients in determining the appropriate accounting for complex transactions under Canadian and US accounting standards, including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs). Gale’s areas of expertise include securitization, derivatives and hedging, consolidation, leases and stock-based compensation.
Active in her profession, Gale is a frequent speaker at conferences, lecturing on such topics as IFRSs and US GAAP. She also sits on various committees at KPMG, including leading several of its topic teams (i.e., financial instruments, stock-based compensation) and co-founding KPMG Canada’s Women’s Interchange Network. In addition, Gale is active in her community, presently acting as the Treasurer for Habitat for Humanity Toronto, and is a member of the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Curators’ Circle Committee and its smART Women Group, as well as Women in Capital Markets.
Gale lives in Toronto.
Michel Magnan, MBA, PhD, FCPA, FCA, ASC, CDir
Appointed: April 1, 2011
Term expires: March 31, 2014
Michel Magnan is Professor and Lawrence Bloomberg Chair in Accountancy at the John Molson School of Business (Concordia University). His areas of interest include financial reporting and disclosure, governance, performance and compensation management, financial statement analysis, corporate social responsibility and environmental and ethical issues. He has published more than 90 articles on these topics.
Michel has served as the Editor in Chief of Contemporary Accounting Research and is still on the Editorial Board for this publication. He is currently Chair of the AcSB’s Academic Advisory Council and a member of CAmagazine’s Editorial Board. Michel is also involved in several academic, professional or business organizations.
He lives in Montreal.
Jocelyn Patenaude, CPA, CA
Appointed: October 31, 2008
Term expires: March 31, 2015
Jocelyn Patenaude has been a partner at Behna Cormier Gougeon Ouellette S.E.N.C.R.L. since 2007, responsible for training and quality control. He worked previously for two of the “Big Four” accounting firms for 13 years as a senior manager.
Jocelyn earned his bachelor degree in accounting from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1988 and obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 1990. He sat on the Board of Directors of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec from 2007-2009, was a member of its various committees, including the Audit committee, and is also a member of the AcSB’s Private Enterprise Advisory Committee.
Jocelyn lives in Montréal.
Adam Sheparski, CA
Appointed: April 1, 2010
Term expires: March 31, 2016
Adam Sheparski is the Vice President of Financial Reporting and Standards for Sobey’s Inc. in Nova Scotia. He is responsible for the oversight of the accounting policy group and transition to new policies, as well as the consolidation of Sobeys’ corporate structure. Adam previously worked for Jazz Air Income Fund as the Manager of Financial Reporting.
Adam graduated from Saint Francis Xavier University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and then qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
Adam started his accounting career with PricewaterhouseCoopers. During his career, he has gained significant experience working with both private and publicly traded clients in the US and Canada.
Adam lives in New Glasgow.
