President's Report

Fall in Alberta is marked with cooling weather, the changing colours of the trees, and the occasional snowfall, while fall at CBA Alberta begins with the start of our Section programming, when our members return to our Calgary and Edmonton offices for their regular lunch-time meetings.

Also marking the new CBA year is the introduction of a new CBA Alberta Executive Committee. Please join me in welcoming our newest Executive member David Hiebert, who was elected to fill the position of CBA Alberta Secretary this past spring. David will join me, Vice-President Frank Friesacher, Treasurer Ola Malik, Past President Jeremiah Kowalchuk and Executive Director Maureen Armitage. I would also like to recognize our outgoing Past President Wayne Barkauskas, who completed his five-year term on the CBA Alberta Executive Committee in August. Please join me in thanking Wayne for his dedicated service to the Executive over the past number of years, and wishing him well in the future. Wayne will continue to be active with CBA Alberta this coming year, as he has agreed to Chair the Agenda for Justice & Advocacy Committee.

Earlier this fall, we were extremely pleased to hear that Steven N. Mandziuk, QC, who served as CBA Alberta President in 2013 – 2014, was appointed a justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in Edmonton. Justice Mandziuk's contributions to the CBA are almost too numerous to count, and in addition to his five years on the CBA Alberta Executive Committee, he served as the first chair of the national Re-Think Committee, chaired the Alberta Branch Agenda for Justice & Advocacy Committee, was a Section Coordinator for our northern Sections, and has sat on several Section Executives and committees. On behalf of our entire Executive Committee and CBA Alberta, I extend my congratulations to Justice Mandziuk and wish him the best in his new position on the bench!

In August, the CBA held its first Annual Meeting under the new organizational structure approved at the summer 2016 meeting of National Council. For the first time in the CBA's history, all CBA members were invited to attend and participate in the Annual Meeting. This was also the first year that members were able to participate in remote "hubs", rather than travel to Ontario for the meeting. Hubs were held in Edmonton and Calgary, and we were delighted to have a strong turnout by our members in both locations. The next CBA Annual Meeting will take place on February 15, 2018, and more details about how to participate will be available early in the New Year. We encourage everyone to attend!

The focus of the 2017 Annual Meeting was the resolution on the new bylaws of the CBA. The resolution was passed overwhelmingly, and will fundamentally reshape how our association governs itself. Debate on the resolution focused on how the organization will define “diversity” to hold the CBA accountable to its commitment to have a board that better reflects Canada’s diverse legal profession. This question was tabled and referred to the CBA National Equality Committee, and will be readdressed at the next Annual Meeting in February 2018. In response to the changes made to the CBA national bylaws, CBA Alberta will be engaging in a governance review. The Governance Task Force was struck over the summer, and has begun its work reviewing our Branch bylaws with an eye towards making updates as dictated by the new national bylaws.

With the fall coming to a close, members are reminded that the deadline to renew your national CBA membership has now passed. If you have not already renewed your national membership, please go to www.cba.org/Membership/Join-Renew to do so.  At the same time, you can also review the Portfolio and Portfolio Plus options available to you to enhance your CBA membership. These options give members benefits such as CBA education credits, rebates on approved CBA purchases, and free materials-level memberships to up to three Sections of your choice.

Section registration is also still open for all CBA Alberta members. Section membership provides you with regularly scheduled professional development, as well as opportunities to participate in fun and relaxing networking events with your colleagues. This year, we have expanded our webcasting capabilities to include a total of 38 Sections in Calgary and Edmonton for those members practicing in smaller communities around our province. We have also opened up Section webcast membership to allow members from Calgary and Edmonton to join. This is an excellent opportunity for those that find themselves too busy to attend the lunchtime meetings to participate via live video, and not miss out on the first-rate professional development delivered by our Sections! To register for your Sections, visit www.cba-alberta.com/Section-Reg.

Each new Executive prioritizes outreach to our members, including maximizing delivery of quality sections, connecting with new members and celebrating our many devoted and engaged volunteers.  Our Engagement Task Force did excellent work over the summer and we are looking forward to implementing tangible changes to benefit members and volunteers.  I often comment that CBA is for you, the members.  Our activities at the Executive level are always focused on improving your CBA and what it can offer you.  Please contact any executive member when you have an idea – your input is always welcome!

Finally, shortly after this magazine arrives on your desk, nearly 200 lawyers from across Canada will fly to Las Vegas to participate in CBA West, a conference presented in partnership with the CBA BC Branch. The CBA West organizing committee has put together a stellar roster of speakers, including Nevada Bar Association President Gene Leverty, Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown, and the chief justices and judges from all levels of court in Alberta and British Columbia, among many others. It is not too late to register to attend this one-of-a-kind conference November 17 - 19. For more information on the conference, including registration details, discount codes for flights with Air Canada and WestJet, and a full conference schedule, visit www.cba-west.org. I hope to see you all in Vegas, and I look forward to your feedback as we strive to evolve and energize your CBA!