Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7500-3885 : Alan J. Richardson
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Publication Title
Accounting Perspectives
Volume
24
Issue
1
First Page
251
Keywords
accounting history, Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame, consecration, inductees
Last Page
274
Abstract
The Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame (CAHF) has inducted 31 members during its first three years of operation with the intent of establishing a critical mass of inductees “who have made significant contributions to the development of the Canadian accounting profession”, and creating “a curated biographical history of accounting in Canada”. This paper provides an analysis of the group and an immanent critique of CAHF given its mandate and aspirations. It begins with a close reading of CAHF’s public statement of intent and policies to clarify what it is committed to achieving and to identify ambiguities and contradictions within its mandate. The characteristics of the initial inductees are then compared with baselines reflecting CAHF’s mandate, and used to identify how ambiguities are resolved in practice. The current members of CAHF over-represent financial reporting and auditing (compared with other areas of accounting competence), academics (compared with those in practice/industry), the more populated provinces (compared with the Prairies and Atlantic region), Chartered Accountants (compared with other legacy designations), and men (compared with women). Current practice also reveals unresolved ambiguities in the definition of “Canada” and “Canadian”, and “contribution” and “impact”, and an under-developed presentation of historical context and documentation to interpret the inductees’ contributions. Best practices for “retrospective cultural consecration institutions” are identified in the literature and align with CAHF procedures. The paper also examines critical commentary on CAHF in the press and identifies areas where its mandate is challenged by public expectations of inductees.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/1911-3838.12355
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Alan J.. (2025). Commentary: The Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame - An analysis of early inductees and immanent critique. Accounting Perspectives, 24 (1), 251-274.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/odettepub/148