Q: The CGAs are involved at the national level and in most provinces, why isn't CGA Manitoba included in the Manitoba Merger Proposal?
A: To date, CGA Manitoba has not expressed interest in joining the merger discussions; however, we would welcome their involvement. As the CGAs are involved in discussions nationally and in all provinces except Manitoba and Nova Scotia, it is quite possible that CGA Manitoba will become engaged at some point.
Q: Will the decision to merge with CMA Manitoba be subject to a member vote?
A: Yes, an advisory member vote will be held. An advisory vote is not a binding vote but it will be a very important component in determining whether or not Council will recommend a merger of the accounting bodies to Government. Even though our legislation and bylaws do not require a vote of the membership on this issue, Council would not move ahead to recommend a merger without knowing how the members feel.
Q: Why is the vote not going to be binding? Shouldn’t the membership be able to make the final decision?
A: There are three reasons why the vote will not be binding. First, the Manitoba Government has the final decision as to whether or not a merger takes place because it must implement new legislation to establish CPA Manitoba. Therefore, even if 100% of the members voted and 100% of them indicated that they supported the merger, if the Government doesn’t agree that a merger should take place, it will not happen.
Secondly, in discussions with the Manitoba Government, they have told us that they will consider what is happening in the rest of the country before making a decision. If the members in Manitoba supported the merger but a large number of other provinces were not in support, Government would take this into account. However, if the members in Manitoba were not in support and most of the other provinces – especially the larger ones – supported the merger and were moving ahead, the Government wouldn’t want to see the Manitoba profession left out of the merger.
Finally, the Government is interested in knowing how supportive the membership is of the merger, including how many members voted. If only 10 – 12 percent of the members vote (numbers typically seen in Council elections and changes to our bylaws) the Government would not find the results as compelling as they would if 80 percent of the members vote.
Q: If CGA Manitoba expresses interest in joining the merger discussions and agrees to the principles in the Unification Framework and Manitoba Merger Proposal, would there be a member vote on the matter of merging CA, CMA and CGA Manitoba?
A: As part of our consultations we have been asking members whether or not they wish us to come back to them again should the CGAs decide to join in the merger discussions. Council will take this feedback into account as it considers what additional consultation with members is necessary, should the CGAs approach us.
Q: Would the merger result in significant cost savings that could be passed on to members in the form of lower member dues?
A: Yes, the merger will result in cost savings. We have not specifically quantified the savings that could occur but we anticipate they would not be insignificant. The clearest example is branding costs. Currently, the CA profession alone spends $5 million a year in branding and if all three bodies were able to merge we would be able to save a significant portion of that. The Manitoba portion of that expenditure is approximately $75,000. While some of that would still be needed for branding, we expect that much of that expense could be saved.
We would also be able to achieve some savings in salaries after the transition period of a few years. Until the new legislation is passed, however, we would need to continue with the regulatory processes of both organizations. Once CPA Manitoba is legislated, these processes could be combined.
Clearly, some positions (for example, the CEO position) would be redundant and we would save salaries there. In the new organization not everybody would have the same jobs they previously had – there would need to be some reassignments. Many of the reductions that would take place in staff over time would be as a result of attrition but where there is a clear redundancy we would address the situation.
There would be some savings in other areas as well but these may not take place immediately as we need to allow for a transition period. We will continue to prepare budgets on a break even basis as we would not intend to grow the surpluses of the new organization. Some of the savings could be invested in providing additional services to members but we also anticipate that there may be a reduction of members’ fees.
Q: What is the anticipated timing of release of other provincial merger proposals?
A: A merger proposal involving CAs, CMAs and CGAs has already been approved in Quebec and it is anticipated that new legislation will take effect in April 2012. BC released its provincial merger proposal shortly after Manitoba. The other provinces are at varying stages of discussion with the other accounting bodies. We anticipate that most provinces will release their provincial merger proposals within the next six weeks. A vote on the merger in each province is likely to take place before the end of June, however, voting may be deferred if the accounting bodies believe that they have not been able to reach enough members through their consultations.
Q: If a merger is approved, how soon could legislation be enacted?
A: To a great extent, it will depend on the priority given to this matter by government; however, it is possible that legislation could be passed as early as 2013. As well, the Manitoba Government has indicated it would want to work in collaboration with other provinces so that the legislation would be consistent with other jurisdictions to the extent possible; this could delay the introduction of the necessary legislation.
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