2015 is well under way, and it is my great pleasure to celebrate over 100 years of the Canadian Bar Association – Alberta Branch representing the legal profession in our province. Our organization has produced many leaders in Canada’s legal community. Our past presidents have gone on to become some of the most recognizable names in Alberta’s legal profession, serving as national CBA presidents (including the first female national president, the Honourable Cecilia I. Johnstone and our current President, Michelle Hollins, QC), and as members of the judiciary at all levels in Alberta courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. In fact, our first recorded past president was former Prime Minister of Canada (1930 – 1935) the Right Honourable the Viscount Bennett, PC, KC It is a great honour (and very humbling) to succeed these leaders, and to continue to work with the CBA to support our members.
As this issue of Law Matters is arriving on desks, I, along with many other members of our profession will have recently returned from the 2015 Alberta Law Conference, Alberta’s premier annual legal event. I want to extend my thanks to the ALC 2015 organizing committee, led by co-chairs Jessica Buckwold and Michael Kraus, QC, who impressed us with an excellent conference. I was pleased to see the theme of the “health” of the profession running throughout the programming at ALC. University of Alberta Faculty of Law Dean Paul Paton, and Law Society of Alberta President Kevin Feth, QC, kicked off the conference with first-rate presentations on the health of the profession as a whole, and what the future may look like, especially with the potential introduction of alternative business structures. Turning the focus to the health of legal professionals themselves, University of Saskatchewan College of Law Professor Marilyn Poitras presented “Law and Happiness 101”, based on her research into the mental health of justice workers, while Dr. Stephen Carter, showed us how to “handle stress without distress”.
An annual highlight of the Alberta Law Conference is the Distinguished Service Awards, presented in partnership with the Law Society of Alberta. Law Society of Alberta President Kevin Feth, QC and I were proud to present Bruce Churchill-Smith, QC, the late J. Patrick Stopa, QC, and Hersh Edward Wolch, QC, with awards for Pro Bono Legal Service, Distinguished Service to the Community, and Distinguished Service to the Profession, respectively. I also had the pleasure of presenting CBA Alberta past president Gillian D. Marriott, QC, with the Cecilia Johnstone Award for Outstanding Service at the Friday dinner; an award presented to CBA Alberta members who exemplify exceptional involvement, dedication and service to the Alberta Branch.
I invite our members to mark their calendars for January 28 – 29, 2016, for the 2016 Alberta Law Conference in Calgary.
Prior to the conference, the Alberta Branch council held its January meeting and Annual General Meeting. We welcomed guests from across the country, including CBA National President (and Alberta Branch past president) Michele Hollins, QC, and current branch Presidents from British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Alex Shorten, Gail Wartman, QC, and Sofia Mirza. We also welcomed two additional members from the British Columbia Branch – Catherine Sas, QC, and Kerry Simmons, QC, who are both running for the position of National Second Vice-President in the spring. We wish Catherine and Kerry the best of luck in their campaigns!
2014 was a busy year for advocacy activities within the Alberta Branch. There was a strong focus on increasing sustainable funding for legal aid. As our members will have seen in communications throughout the fall, we (in collaboration with other stakeholders) advocated for a fully-funded legal aid program in a letter delivered to Minister of Justice & Solicitor General Jonathan Denis, QC, among other members of the provincial government, and in meetings with the Minister. We were pleased to see the Minister take the first step towards this by committing to a $5.5 million increase to legal aid funding in October, and we will continue to advocate for adequate, sustainable legal aid funding going forward.
At the October meeting of Council, we were joined by The Honourable Mr. Justice Hawco of the Court of Queen’s Bench, who shared some words on behalf of the Honourable Chief Justice Wittmann. In response to the need for additional superior court justices in Alberta, the Justices of the Court of Queen’s Bench have submitted a proposal to the provincial government requesting the creation of an additional 9 - 12 positions. At present, Alberta has the lowest number of superior court justices per capita of any jurisdiction in Canada. The CBA has committed to assisting the Court of Queen’s Bench with this initiative, and will be reaching out to members for their help in the coming months. Please watch for further communications from the CBA on this matter.
We have a number of exciting events still to come in 2015. Next up is Law Day - which is held in nine cities and towns across Alberta. Calgary and Edmonton will be hosting Law Day events on Saturday, April 18, 2015, with dates for events in other jurisdictions coming soon. Visit www.lawdayalberta.com for more information.
Also coming soon is the 2015 CBA Legal Conference, which will be held in Calgary August 14 - 16, 2015. This conference gives attendees the opportunity to network with CBA members from across the country, and we are excited to welcome these members to our province. I hope to see a strong contingent representing our branch at this event. Registration will open soon - you can visit www.cba.org for more details.
Steve is the 2014 - 2015 President of the Canadian Bar Association, and a long-time CBA volunteer, having previously been involved as co-founder of the North Pension & Employee Benefits Section, North Section Coordinator, and member of the Court of Appeal of Alberta Centennial Gala organizing committee. Steve is also General Counsel with Finning (Canada).