Section 3 – Introduction to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)
Biographies
Chair of the Board of Management
Richard (Rick) Thorpe, CPA, CMA, FCMA
Penticton, British Columbia
Appointed: October 2013 for 4 years
Chair, Board of Management
Member, Audit Committee
Member, Governance Committee
Member, Human Resources Committee
Member, Resources Committee
Nominated by the federal government, Richard (Rick) Thorpe has more than 45 years of experience in the private and public sectors. He was a member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 2009 where he represented the ridings of Okanagan-Penticton and Okanagan-Westside. During his tenure as a member of the Legislative Assembly, he served as Minister of Small Business and Revenue, Minister Responsible for Regulatory Reform, Minister of Provincial Revenue, and Minister of Competition, Science and Enterprise. From 2001 to 2009, Mr. Thorpe served on the British Columbia Treasury Board, including five years as the Deputy Chair.
Before his election to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Thorpe worked in the Canadian brewing industry for 22 years in a number of senior executive positions in Canada, and internationally. In addition, he was involved in repositioning the British Columbian grape and wine industry and was a partner in an Okanagan winery.
Mr. Thorpe formerly served on the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia from May 2012 to October 2014 as Director and Vice-Chair, and on the Canadian Snowbirds Association as Director from 2012 to 2014. He is a former volunteer Chair of the Fiscal Review Board for the City of Penticton (2010 to 2013), and has also served on non-profit boards, including Summerland Charity Shops Society (Penny Lane) 2010 to 2013, Agur Lake Camp Society, the Heart & Stroke Foundation of British Columbia and Yukon.
Mr. Thorpe is a certified public accountant and a certified management accountant. Also, in 2007, Mr. Thorpe was awarded the Fellow of the Society of Management Accountants of Canada - the highest honour given to a certified management accountant.
Commissioner of Revenue and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Revenue Agency
Andrew Treusch, B.A., M.A.
Appointed: December 2012
In December 2012, Andrew Treusch was appointed Commissioner of Revenue and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA administers income, sales and other taxes; ensures compliance; and distributes benefit payments to millions of Canadians on behalf of governments across Canada.
In 2014-2015, the CRA processed over $469 billion in payments; paid almost $22 billion in benefits payments; and resolved $52 billion in outstanding tax debt. The CRA has over 40,000 employees working coast to coast across Canada.
Mr. Treusch was born in Saskatoon and grew up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He received a B.A. (Honours) and M.A. degrees from the University of Manitoba in 1976 and 1978; his principal field of study was Political Studies. He began his Ph.D. at Queen's University in 1979 when he was selected as a Canadian Parliamentary Intern, which brought him to Ottawa.
Mr. Treusch's career began with the Public Service of Canada in the early 1980s. He joined the Department of Finance in 1984, and then moved to the Privy Council Office, the Treasury Board Secretariat and the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development in positions of increasing responsibility.
In 2007, Mr. Treusch was named Executive Director to the Competition Policy Review Panel, chaired by L.R. Wilson. The Panel's mandate was to review competition and investment policies and to report to the Minister of Industry. The Panel's report, "Compete to Win" was released in June 2008.
Mr. Treusch was appointed Associate Deputy Minister of Environment Canada in June 2008 and later Associate Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada in September 2009.
Currently, Mr. Treusch is the Federal Deputy Minister Champion for Memorial University of Newfoundland, and was formerly President of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) and 2014 Chair of the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign (GCWCC).
Mr. Treusch is married, has three children, and resides in Ottawa.
You can follow him on Twitter at @AndrewTreusch.
Deputy Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency
John Ossowski, B.A.
Appointed: June 2015
On June 26, 2015, former Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the appointment of Mr. John Ossowski to the position of Deputy Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, effective July 6, 2015.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Ossowski was the Associate Deputy Minister of Public Safety since 2013. He has also held senior positions in the federal Public Service, notably, he served as Assistant Secretary, International Affairs, Security and Justice Sector, Treasury Board Secretariat from 2008 to 2013, and as Deputy Chief, Corporate Services, Communications Security Establishment Canada from 2005 to 2008.
Mr. Ossowski holds a Bachelor of Arts, Economics, from the University of Victoria.
Taxpayers' Ombudsman
Sherra Profit, B.A., LL.B
Appointed: April 2015
The Honourable Kerry-Lynne D. Findlay, P.C., Q.C., M.P., former Minister of National Revenue announced the appointment of Ms. Sherra Profit as the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman on April 10, 2015. Ms. Profit’s took office on July 6, 2015.
Prior to joining the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsman (OTO), Ms. Profit practiced law in Prince Edward Island for more than 15 years. During this time, she gained experience in a variety of legal disciplines, including alternate dispute resolution, general litigation, real property, estates and trusts, family law, corporate law, and commercial law.
Ms. Profit holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Francis Xavier University and a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of Saskatchewan. She was called to the Bar in Prince Edward Island in 2000.
Ms. Profit is married and has two daughters.
Page details
- Date modified: