Governance

The CPTS Board of Directors is elected annually by the members of the society. The board is represented equally by accounting firms, industry and law firms, and five new directors are appointed each year. Directors generally serve for a term of 3 years, with the exception of president who serves for a fourth year (as past president).

CPTS Board Members

Chris Montes

Chris Montes

President

Christopher Montes is a partner at Felesky Flynn LLP in Calgary and focuses on international tax planning and dispute resolution.  He is a frequent speaker at Canadian Tax Foundation, Canadian Bar Association and Canadian Petroleum Tax Society conferences and events.  Christopher holds law degrees from the University of Cambridge in England, where he studied on a full scholarship from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, and Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto.  He has also completed an executive education program in transfer pricing at Duke University.

Bhagwant Dhillon

Bhagwant Dhillon

Vice President

Bhagwant began his career in 2002 with an international CA firm as an articling student shortly after graduating from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He obtained his Chartered Accountant designation in 2005 and completed the CICA In-depth Tax program in 2007. Throughout the last 17 years of his career, Bhagwant has been practicing income tax in various capacities both within public practice and industry tax shops. Bhagwant is currently with Parkland Corporation in the capacity of a Senior Corporate Tax Manager and is responsible for all corporate tax matters.

Julie D'Avignon

Julie D'Avignon

Past President

Julie D’Avignon is a partner in the Tax Group. Her practice focuses on providing tax advice in connection with mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations, equity investments, flow-through share transactions and financings. Julie has extensive experience working with Canadian and international clients, public and private entities, and private equity firms. Julie has particular expertise in resource and energy taxation, including with respect to Canadian and international oil and gas, mining, pipeline and renewable energy projects.

Corinne Grigoriu

Corinne Grigoriu

Publications & Technology Chair

Corinne Grigoriu is a partner of Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP. Her legal practice focuses on corporate and international tax planning, advising clients on a variety of domestic and international tax matters including inbound and outbound investment and financing, mergers and acquisitions, fund formation, restructurings and natural resource taxation. Her practice also includes the settlement of tax disputes and tax litigation, as well as advising on charitable and not-for-profit tax matters. Corinne regularly gives presentations and publishes articles on a variety of domestic and international income tax issues.

Shaira Nanji

Shaira Nanji

Publications & Technology Chair

Shaira is a Partner in the National Tax Group based in the Calgary office. Her hybrid practice involves both providing strategic domestic and cross-border tax advice in connection with mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, financings, and corporate reorganizations, as well as the strategic management and efficient resolution of tax disputes.

As a trusted advisor, Shaira is known for providing practical customized advice to clients and developing innovative tax-efficient solutions to challenging business problems.

Ryan Condie

Ryan Condie

Assistant Technology & Publications Chair

Ryan is a Director in PwC Calgary’s Energy and Utilities practice focusing on large energy clients. He assists his clients in many areas of tax including compliance, planning and transactional matters as well as tax accounting under IFRS and US GAAP. Ryan also brings a vast knowledge of cross-border and private company issues to the table as a result of his more than 15 years of tax experience which provides a unique lens to growing energy companies.

Michelle Wartman

Michelle Wartman

Communications & Website Chair

Michelle is a CPA and a Planning Advisor in the Tax Department at Imperial Oil. In her over 18 years working in industry, Michelle has received a breadth of experience in both accounting and income tax roles, including income tax compliance and dispute resolution.

Danielle Friedt

Danielle Friedt

Communications & Website Assistant Chair

Danielle is a CPA with over 15 years of experience in both industry and public practice, with extensive experience in tax planning and advisory. Her current role at Canadian Natural Resources Limited focuses on tax planning, due diligence, corporate reorganizations, reviewing legislation, as well as international tax planning and compliance matters. Previously, Danielle worked with small business clients on a variety of practices including accounting, assurance and taxation services.

Colena Der

Colena Der

Conference Chair

Colena is a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. Colena’s practice focuses on advising Canadian and foreign-based clients on the taxation of mergers and acquisitions, corporate reorganizations and employee and executive compensation matters, with an emphasis in the resource, emerging companies and technology sectors.  Her tax practice also includes assisting clients with tax disputes with the Canada Revenue Agency.

Matthew Kramer

Matthew Kramer

Assistant Conference Chair

A partner at McCarthy Tétrault in Calgary, Matthew brings a wealth of experience in helping clients across Western Canada achieve their business objectives in all aspects of tax law. His practice focuses on corporate tax law planning, domestic and cross-border public reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, tax litigation and business critical tax issues. Recognized for his detail-oriented and pragmatic approach, Matthew helps clients seamlessly navigate the corporate tax planning and tax disputes landscape.

In 2022, Matthew has presented at the Canadian Tax Foundation’s National Conference and presented twice to the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society members. Matthew has been a sessional tax instructor at the University of Calgary teaching in Tax and International Tax. Matthew is a regular contributor to the Canadian tax community through his speaking and academic writing.

Sophie Virji

Sophie Virji

Continuing Education Chair

Sophie Virji helps private and public corporations manage their tax controversies and formulate litigation strategies.

Sophie handles all aspects of the tax dispute resolution process and advocates complex written and oral legal positions for appearances before the Court of Queen’s Bench, the Tax Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition to engaging in negotiations with the Canada Revenue Agency and the Department of Justice prior to judicial proceedings, Sophie provides advice on Canada Revenue Agency corporate audits and works with her clients to complete the audit process. Sophie has been engaged on a wide array of tax matters including transfer pricing, international taxation and corporate reorganizations.

Sophie regularly writes and speaks on taxation matters and is on the board of directors for the Canadian Petroleum Tax Society in addition to being a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Calgary Bar Association, the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Association of Women Lawyers and the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers. Sophie is fluent in English and French.

Ingrid Reynolds

Ingrid Reynolds

Assistant Continuing Education Chair

Ingrid is a partner in the Business Tax practice with 17 years of professional service firm experience and 15 years of experience serving Deloitte’s Canadian public and private corporate tax clients. Ingrid was part of the Audits & Litigation group for a large multi-national company dealing with complex domestic income tax, international tax and transfer pricing issues under review by tax authorities including competent authority proceedings.

With a focus on Tax Controversy within Business Tax, Ingrid leads Canadian and international tax audits, assisting Deloitte’s clients from audit inception through to negotiating principled-based settlements.

David Pope

David Pope

Golf Tournament

David is a partner at EY in their Canadian tax practice with a focus on the Energy Sector.  David assists clients with planning, transactions, compliance, tax provisions and tax transformation projects.

Beau Young

Beau Young

Treasurer

Beau is a CPA and a Manager on the Tax Planning team at Suncor Energy. Beau has a breadth of experience in tax spanning over 15 years both industry and public practice roles, as well as experience working on the Treasury team at Suncor. In his current role, Beau is responsible for tax planning, structuring and research related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, reorganizations, financings and various other projects at Suncor. Beau’s exceptionally strong background in Canadian corporate income tax is complimented by experience in corporate finance and auditing.

Tyler Lewis

Tyler Lewis

Assistant Treasurer

Tyler is an international tax director at TC Energy. He has a wide range of experience in public practice and industry roles including compliance and tax reporting, planning, mergers and acquisitions and financing transactions. Tyler is also actively involved in the CPA In-Depth Tax Program as a facilitator. He has taught all three years of the program and is currently a facilitator for group study 2 and In-residence 3.
Brian Rubinstein

Brian Rubinstein

Director - Special Projects

Brian is an accomplished professional and is a tax partner with KPMG in their Canadian Corporate Tax practice. Brian’s professional experience includes significant public practice experience as well as progressive senior finance and tax roles in industry. With a unique blend of tax, treasury, finance, and leadership experience, both in industry and public practice, Brian has an extensive track record of helping companies with complex tax needs thrive. His experience covers substantial breadth, including both planning and compliance for both public and privately held businesses across various industries.

Eric Colberg

Eric Colberg

Director - Special Projects

I work for BDO’s Alberta tax office, based in Red Deer. Working with a wide range of clients, I help to deliver innovative tax strategies and am known for my passionate commitment to finding the best solutions for clients and their business.

Working one-on-one with clients, I help with both personal and corporate tax needs and am skilled at determining the most tax-efficient structures for businesses, developing strategies that minimize overall taxes while simultaneously achieving business objectives.

I deliver strong business solutions that go well beyond traditional accounting. I can provide tax advice and knowledge in the areas of corporate restructuring, asset protection and estate planning. I have assisted clients experiencing controversy with CRA and have had success in helping clients to resolve these disputes.

Before becoming a CPA, I worked in the oilfield and construction industries building a wealth of knowledge about the challenges, issues and successes of those industries and entrepreneurs in general.

Interested in joining the CPTS board?

Contact us to learn more about the application process