Key bureaucrat headed back to private sector
AFTER
ALMOST FOUR
YEARS as one of Niagara’s top bureaucrats, Jason Burgess is heading back to the private sector.
Niagara’s acting commissioner of enterprise resource management, who sits front and centre during council meetings, is leaving his Niagara Region post for a position with one of Canada’s largest full-service chartered accountancy and business advisory firms, MNP.
“I will be using the St. Catharines office as my home base and visiting the other offices,” Burgess said. “It is similar to where I was at when I was with Deloitte.
“I’m going back to what I was doing before I came here. There is a great team here at the Region. There are great people here.
“Sometimes people don’t get to see the important work that gets done. One of my misgivings in leaving is that this council has done some great work over the last four years and there are some critical decisions to be made over the next four years. Whatever small part I play in that stuff, I will miss that.”
MNP has 4,000 employees, including 1,700 certified public accountants, with its head office in Calgary. The company website says it has offices across the country from Vancouver Island to Halifax.
Burgess, who is a CPA, joined the Region 2014 as director of procurement and strategic acquisitions.
In his current role, he oversees financial management and planning; procurement and strategic acquisitions; IT solutions; construction, energy and facilities management and legal and court services.
He said there are important decisions on the horizon in Niagara. Working through the all options as part of a team is something he will miss.
“We are just starting down the road of asset management here,” Burgess said. “If you look at all the assets we have to maintain, we have to have a strategy to pay for all of it, from the pipes in the ground that need to be replaced and he roads that need to be replaced. It is those complex and interesting challenges that I like.”
Burgess will remain with the Region until April 6. Helen Chamberlain, director of financial management and planning and deputy treasurer, will serve as acting commissioner.