Last month my first op-ed ran in the Ottawa Business Journal. It explained what open banking is and why the average business owner should care. Publishing it felt like a milestone, and it also felt like day one of a longer journey where I use my platform to push for practical improvements for Canadian entrepreneurs.
The moment that flipped the switch
I had shown up with a spicy draft. I wanted to say what I see every week in the trenches. Big banks move slowly, small businesses pay the price, and open banking is part of the fix. Then I spoke with editor Anne Howland, who asked a simple question that changed everything. Why should a busy business owner care today?
That question forced me to trade heat for clarity. I cut some of my boldest lines and focused on a plain-language explainer. I kept thinking about clients pulling old statements from multiple portals, chasing approvals, and paying higher fees because data does not flow where it should. The published version met readers where they are, which is the point.
Why advocacy, and why now
By day I am a CPA and co-founder at Zenbooks. We support hundreds of companies with a remote finance team that blends tech and hands-on weekly/monthly advice. I also host the Small Business, Big Insights podcast, and I spend a lot of time listening to the same pain points across sectors. Those conversations convinced me that client-by-client fixes are not enough. We need to help shape the rules of the game.
In 2023, I organized a national petition with over 30,000 signatures garnering national media attention. Open banking is the next campaign because it is simple in spirit. With consent, a business should be able to share its own banking data with accredited tools and lenders through secure APIs. That means fewer hours on admin, faster access to credit, and more competition for services that matter. The Department of Finance is targeting an early 2026 rollout, which makes this the right time to get involved and make sure small businesses are not left out.
Launching OpenSME
I helped launch OpenSME. It is a volunteer-led campaign focused on one practical goal. Make sure small business accounts are included from day one in Canada’s open banking rollout. We kicked off on August 11, 2025, and within a week the momentum grew, from partner sign-ons to coverage in the tech and accounting community. The message is straightforward. Give entrepreneurs fair, secure access to their own data, and they will use it to build better companies. On August 18, 2025 the OpEd in Ottawa Business Journal was published.
What I learned writing my first op-ed
Tailor to the reader, not your goals. I came in hot. I left with a piece that busy owners could act on.
Cut stories you love if they slow the reader down. I wanted to include a client story about the four-year statement hunt. It did not make the final cut. That was the right call for the word count, but those stories still shape how I write and why I care.
Strong views are fine. Specific steps are better. The final draft put actions up front. Audit your bookkeeping workflows, ask your vendors about pilots, and be ready to move to institutions that play nicely with secure data-sharing. That is how change shows up in the real world.
The personal side that fuels this work
My path has not been a straight line. I was rejected from the University of Ottawa’s accounting program, took a detour through Algonquin College, and later earned admission and a scholarship to UOttawa. I failed my CA final the first time, regrouped, and passed on the second try. In 2020 I chose sobriety. In 2023 my first son arrived, and I lost my dad the same year. We created the Ronald Saumure Award of Excellence at Algonquin to carry his spirit forward. Those chapters taught me to keep showing up, to build community, and to use setbacks as fuel.
Service also matters to me. I sit on the Board of Cystic Fibrosis Canada and previously served as CFO for Mark Sutcliffe’s mayoral campaign. Zenbooks has been recognized among Ottawa’s fastest growing and The Globe’s Top Growing Companies, and I was honoured to be named to Forty Under 40. These are team wins, and they come from a simple idea. Do the right thing, even when nobody is watching.
Open banking, and beyond
Open banking is where I’m starting, but it’s only one of the finance challenges small and medium-sized businesses are up against. In the months ahead, I’ll be writing more about the real pain points I see every week in conversations with entrepreneurs:
- Access to capital — why lending feels harder than it should be, and what smarter, faster financing could look like.
- Payments — the delays, fees, and risks SMEs face with current payment systems, and how technology can help level the playing field.
- Cash flow management — practical ways business owners can stop being caught off guard, and the tools that can make visibility easier.
- The accountant’s evolving role — shifting from bookkeeper and historian to strategic advisor who helps owners make decisions in real time.
These are the issues I plan to unpack — not as abstract policy debates, but as concrete problems with real solutions that can free up time, money, and energy for business owners.
This first op-ed was my way of putting a flag in the ground. From here, I’ll keep using this platform to advocate for the financial changes that matter most to Canadian entrepreneurs.
If you care about these topics, you can do three quick things today.
- Read the op-ed and share it with a business owner who hates chasing statements. (Ottawa Business Journal)
- Follow my journey on LinkedIn
- Tell me where the friction is in your own operations. Your stories shape what I write next.
Thanks for reading chapter one. More to come.