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Interview: AFP of Canada Chairman Looks Ahead
January 22, 2008
Elizabeth Johns, Managing Director, Communications
Robert Stanley is the treasurer of Samuel Manu-Tech in Toronto. He is also Chairman of AFP of Canada and Chairman of the Society for Canadian Treasurers, with a clear view of the year ahead for the organization.
What do you seek to accomplish this year with AFP of Canada? To continue what we have been working on for the last three years. And that is to continue our membership growth, continue building our cost to coast treasurer's meetings, where we have excellent opportunities to exchange ideas and network. We intend to continue on the platform that has been going well so far.
What are some of the issues that Canadian treasury professionals are facing? What do you see ahead this year? I would say that the biggest issue we face is the growing Canadian dollar. Obviously, it has been increasing in value versus the U.S. dollar in the last few years, to where it has actually surpassed the U.S. dollar. Canadian companies are very interested in worldwide trade, especially with the United States, and the stronger Canadian dollar has a significant impact on trade.
We are also concerned with interest deductibility in Canada, where the federal finance commissioner is taking us. The credit crunch is an issue that obviously hits us, perhaps not as much as in the U.S., but it does hit us as well.
Is there anything in particular you would like AFP members to know? We are going to continue to build the best value proposition that we can deliver. We are very fortunate to be affiliated with the AFP n and the value that it brings to members, such as the wonderful Annual conference and forums, the Exchange magazine, the Web site information, the discussion lists. I could go on and on about the value of membership. We also have our networking events in Canada, specifically for corporate treasurers, CFOs, and assistant treasurers of larger corporations. Over the last three years, these have been phenomenal. We learn from the speakers about issues that are important to us, and we gain as much from our peers, networking. After a speaker, I will turn to the person on one side or the other and say "What do you think?" We also have roundtable discussions where we bring up timely topics. Who better to exchange ideas with that the people who are working on those subjects?
Excerpted from a video interview.
Copyright © 2008 Association for Financial Professionals. All Rights Reserved.
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