The chair and CEO of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) has called on Bermuda's newest group of chartered accountants to strive toward a leadership role in the community.

"Bermuda chartered accountants have consistently demonstrated the leadership that is critical not only in our profession but in our society,'' said Ms Carol Loughrey, FCA.

Ms Loughrey, currently head of the office of the comptroller of New Brunswick, a deputy minister who is the province's chief accountant and chief internal auditor, spoke at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bermuda (ICAB) convocation luncheon Friday.

The ICAB with the ten Canadian provinces make up CICA.

Receiving certificates from Ms Loughrey were Bermudians Ms Zelia Marie Botelho, Ms Nancy Jane Coelho, Ms Michelle Beverly DeSilva, Ms Lara Teresa Hoth, Mr. Brian David Mello, and Mr. Curtis Alfred Stovell.

"As leaders in more than accounting, we have the training and the expertise that our countries need right now. We work with business and organisations of all kinds and we speak the language our customers and clients understand. We are key players in the information economy because we are experts in using information strategically. This is one of the most important ingredients of achieving anything today; the ability to shape data into useful information for key decision makers, in business and in government,'' she said.

"As chartered accountants we can and must show leadership,'' she continued.

She cited getting involved in the community and using diversity as an advantage as ways of assuming leadership roles.

"Like almost any country, Bermuda too is made up of different racial and cultural groups. The key challenge is not only to recognise this but to ensure that each group is afforded equal access to opportunities because a profession that chooses its members and its leaders not on the basis of some outdated stereotype but from the best of all those in the population can't help but be stronger. When you think about it, it is the collision of different languages, cultures and lifestyles that produces the best in a community,'' she added.

Another way to show leadership is by living up to the values of the profession, according to Ms Loughrey, an accountant for almost 25 years.

CAs could be involved by giving something back to the community by sitting on boards or councils or helping charitable organisations, and recognising that a privileged position carries responsibility.

In 1988, at the urging of Premier Frank McKenna, she joined the office of the comptroller.

She is the first chair and CEO of CICA from the public sector in that accounting organisation's 92-year history.

Ms Carol Loughrey