Ruby Bjarnason at the 1992 CPA National Conference in Toronto

Highlights

• 1987-1989 Chairman
  
  
• Joined the CPA in 1979. Her career as a volunteer with the CPA began in 1984 when she joined the Government Relations Standing Committee.
  
  
• Worked her way through several executive positions and served eight years on the CPA Board of Directors.
  
  
• For many years Ruby has been an instructor for the CPA's PDS seminars, particularly in the Atlantic Region.
  
  
• One of her first tasks as Chairman was to hire an association management firm in order to increase financial accountability.
  
  
• "The time I spent on the board, and especially as president, provided a better education than a university course in business administration ever could."
  
  
• "We make it look too easy (regarding payroll)," Ruby explained. "If they always get paid what they earn, when they expect it, why would the process look complicated? Employees believe it's a very simple automated process or they wouldn't ask for their T4s immediately after the last pay of the year is processed. When I explain payroll to people who don't know much about it, I like to use the analogy of a duck on a pond. The smooth surface is no indication of how much paddling is going on below the water line."
  
  
• From the January/February 2008 DIALOGUE magazine: "I started on the Federal Government Relations Advisory Committee (FGRAC) in 1979 and continued until I retired in 1998. I sat on several Record of Employment (ROE) review committees, the last in 1990 (we were only allowed to deal with regulations and could not change the weekly reporting requirement). As Co-Chair, I appeared with other FGRAC members before the Finance Committee to present the employer's side of accelerated remittances."
  
  "The CPA's greatest accomplishment was earning the respect of the government by focusing on the administrative and not political issues."

Awards

• Fellow of the CPA 2011
• Board of Directors Award 2003
• Honorary Member Award 2000
• Board of Directors Award 1999
• Board of Directors Award 1997