Editor’s Note MAY 2016 VOLUME 3, No. 4


Of Dragons and Digital Nomads


U


NTIL RECENTLY Mitch Garber wasn’t very well-known in his native Quebec, and per-


haps not known at all in the rest of Canada. Yet Garber is a billion- dollar player in the world of US hotel, casino and online gaming. The CEO of Caesars Acquisition Co. — with 2014 revenue of US$2.35 billion and 8,000 employees — is the subject of our cover profile this issue. In “The Ringmaster,” p. 28, guid-


ed by writer Pierre Théroux, we tra- verse the route that took Garber from Montreal lawyer specializing in gaming law to head of one of the largest casino and gaming compa- nies in the world. Garber, reported to have a flair for business, showed a desire to make money early, working as a paperboy at age 11 before operating a small concession stand at a public pool. A graduate of McGill, Garber took the leap into the gaming industry in 1999 when he leſt his law practice to join SureFire Commerce, a company specializing in e-commerce transactions for online gaming companies and casinos. That company went through a number of mergers and transformations to become Optimal Payments, which made him CEO in 2003. Today, Garber is noted in Quebec, not just because he is also chairman of Cirque


du Soleil, but because he is a television star, a dragon in the French-language version of Dragons’ Den, Dans l’oeil du dragon. This is an intriguing story of a Canadian busi- ness star who ought to be better known. Some business people spend a lot of time travelling the world as part of their busi-


ness and profession. Most of the time, they visit places that are not of their own choosing, but are destinations dictated by the demands of the job or business. What if you could travel to places of your own choosing, at times of your choice, and still do your job that had hitherto crazy-glued your derriere in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary or Montreal? What would that be? That would be a new trend known as digital nomadism. The digital age has created a new kind of worker with a porta- ble job that can be performed anywhere in the world. In “Here, There and Everywhere,” p. 34, writer Lara Bourdin reports that “these


mobile workers like to hop around the globe, indulging in discovery and adventure without skipping a beat in their professional lives. For digital nomads, ‘remote work’ doesn’t mean just working from home or keeping up with assignments while on the road: it means bringing work and travel together into a single, seamless package.” Please find out more about this new form of work that has the potential to free every- one and turn dreary jobs into joyful work.


Okey Chigbo editor


2 | CPA MAGAZINE | MAY 2016


EDITOR Okey Chigbo ART DIRECTOR Bernadette Gillen ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Kevin Pudsey SENIOR EDITORS Bernadette Kuncevicius, Tamar Satov ASSOCIATE EDITOR Yvette Trancoso ASSOCIATE FRENCH EDITOR Mathieu de Lajartre EDITOR, WEB EDITION Margaret Craig-Bourdin MAGAZINE WEB PRODUCER Alan Vintar EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Harriet Bruser DIRECTOR, LANGUAGE SERVICES Jane Finlayson EDITOR, PROFESSIONAL MATTERS Mara Gulens CONTRIBUTORS Taryn Abate, Yan Barcelo, Craig Bell, Mary Teresa Bitti, Dwayne Bragonier, Steve Brearton, David Descôteaux, Cathy Hutchinson, John Lorinc, David Malamed, David Trahair, Lisa van de Geyn, Karen Wensley, Trevor Wilson QUALITY REVIEW TEAM Antonella Risi, CPA, CA; Juli-Ann Gorgi, CPA, CA


PUBLISHER Nicholas Cheung, CPA, CA, CIPP/C


SALES AND MARKETING MANAGER Brian Loney, (416) 204-3235, bloney@cpacanada.ca ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVES


Alexandra Garant, (416) 204-3397, agarant@cpacanada.ca David McGee, 416-204-3342, dmcgee@cpacanada.ca QUEBEC ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Serge Gamache, (450) 651-4257 sergegamache@videotron.ca ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Michael Marks (416) 204-3255 CIRCULATION MANAGER Annette DaRocha (416) 204-3367


CPA MAGAZINE EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Chair: Nancy Cheng, FCPA, FCA; Vinetta Peek, FCPA, FCMA; Michel Magnan, FCPA, FCA; Fred Clifford, CPA, CA, CPA (Ill.); Debra J. Feltham, FCPA, FCGA; John Redding, CPA, CMA


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Photo: Paul Orenstein


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