Don Johnston Award -
Speech delivered by Margaret Koniuck, CGA, CFP Chair, Financial Planners Standards Council 2005-2006 Board of Directors

The Inauguration of the Donald J. Johnston Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Financial Planning Profession in Canada.

Thank you Don,

Thank you very, very much, Don. And not just for the introduction. And not just for this wonderful party. I'm actually here to thank you for so much more.

While it is true that it takes the dedication and efforts of many individuals to make things happen, it was the foresight, imagination and determination of one man, as Ann said, to step forward and lead us. To fearlessly step forward to figure out which way it was we needed to go, and, with tremendous fortitude, take us this far.

Don, it was your dogged pursuit of reluctant and sceptical supporters … your relentless insistence that financial planning could and should be subject to the same rigorous requirements as other professional activities … that got the ball rolling 10 years ago. And you've kept that ball rolling ever since.

In the absence of a national regulatory framework, you made certain FPSC, through CFP certification, grew to become the authoritative voice and leader of the development of the profession of financial planning in Canada to the benefit of all Canadians. This is your legacy to date. This, and the almost 17,000 CFP professionals who voluntarily meeting relevant standards of competence and ethics designed to move financial planning toward becoming a profession, and benefit Canadians seeking professional financial planning advice. They too are your legacy to date.

This evening, the FPSC Board of Directors is honoured to give due recognition to your legacy and to recognize the kind of passion, the kind of visionary leadership, the kind of tenacity - in short, LEADERHIP - it takes to accomplish so much in so little time. We want to give your leadership its due recognition. And we want to inspire more of it in others. Because we will always need more.

We will need more of your kind of tenacity for years to come, if we are to ensure that financial planning, as a profession, remains worthy of our respect and trust, always. We will need more of the kind of passion you've demonstrated in ensuring continued relevance of the CFP standards, if Canadians are to continue to place their trust in and benefit from professional financial planning.

So Don, to recognize your outstanding contribution in developing the foundation upon which the financial planning profession in Canada is emerging … and to inspire others to follow in your rather large pioneering footsteps … the FPSC Board of Directors inaugurates, this evening, the annual Donald J. Johnston Award.

This award recognizes your outstanding contribution to the profession of financial planning in Canada, and will recognize, in perpetuity, the contribution of others who will follow in your footsteps.

Don, we believe, you have made an enormous contribution to the development of the financial planning profession. Your contribution recognized through the establishment of this award, we hope, will inspire other similarly meaningful and profound contributions for years to come. We hope these contributors will come from all sectors of the industry … from the academic world … from government and non-government organizations … from regulatory organizations … from professional membership bodies … from anywhere where there might be people whose passion to advance the profession of financial planning to the benefit of Canadians matches the productive passion you have demonstrated as founding President of FPSC.

So, in recognition of 10 years of visionary leadership of Financial Planners Standards Council … 10 years of diligent, careful development and passionate stewardship of CFP professional standards in Canada - standards that are and will continue to shape the profession of financial planning in Canada … the 2006 FPSC Board of Directors recognizes you, Don, as the inspiration for and first recipient of the Donald. J. Johnston Award.

Don, come here and receive this Trophy so that you can show your grandchildren that what you have worked so hard for over these past 10 years, is indeed appreciated and recognized by your peers, and we hope, in time, by all Canadians.

Don, in addition to this trophy, you see that Ann is holding a perpetual plaque that will sit at the FPSC offices and will bear your name and all the names of the future recipients of the Donald J. Johnston award.

And there is one more thing.

Financial planning is about helping people, and we are told consistently by CFP professionals that "wanting to help people" is one of the main reasons they chose careers in financial planning. So, it is in spirit of this benevolence that is so pervasive in our community of CFP professionals that the FPSC Board of Directors would also like to make a contribution of $10,000 to the charity of your choice. We hope, Don, that with this contribution, and ones we intend to make in the future, we will perpetually link the Donald J. Johnston Award with the spirit of good will and professionalism that touches the lives of people - in particularly people who often are beyond the professional reach of financial planners."

Ladies and Gentlemen: May I present FPSC President Don Johnston, the first recipient of the Donald J. Johnston Award for outstanding contribution to the profession of financial planning, and in whose honour this award is inaugurated the evening. May it inspire others to follow in his footsteps.