BarTalk February 2004
Volume 16, Number 1

New Chair – Heather Raven
The Board of Governors of The Law Foundation of B.C. is pleased to announce that Professor Heather Raven of Victoria has been elected as Chair of the Law Foundation for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2004. Ms. Raven succeeds Donald Silversides, QC of Prince Rupert.

Professor Raven (Nakasheohow) is a member of the Broken Head Ojibway First Nation which is located in Manitoba. She has degrees in history and law from UBC and has been a professor at the Faculty of Law at UVic since 1992. She directs the Academic and Cultural Support Program and teaches Employment Law, Legal Process, Legal Mooting and Aboriginal Law. Prior to 1992, she worked as a labour and litigation lawyer in Vancouver. She has been a governor of the Foundation since 1999 and has served on the New Grants, Personnel, Aboriginal Justice and Funding Strategies committees. She has also been Chair, for the last two years, of the Policy and Planning Committee. Professor Raven has also served on the B.C. Police Commission, the Public Service Appeal Board, and the boards of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, the Environmental Law Centre and the Victoria Law Centre.

Departing Chair – Donald Silversides, QC
Donald Silversides, QC finished his term as Chair of the Law Foundation in December. Mr. Silversides joined the Board of Governors in 1996 and served on a number of committees, including: Small Grants, Civil Justice Reform, Finance and Administration, Aboriginal Justice Issues, Policy and Planning, and Strategic Planning prior to becoming Chair of the Board in 2001. During his term, Mr. Silversides oversaw the implementation of nine new legal advocacy projects in rural communities, the initiation of the Funding Strategies Review and the continuation of core funding to over 50 continuing programs despite record low interest rates. The Foundation is fortunate to have had the benefit of Mr. Silversides’ leadership and wisdom over the past eight years.

New Governor – Suzette Narbonne
Suzette Narbonne of Prince Rupert has been appointed by the Law Society as a governor of the Law Foundation for the County of Prince Rupert, replacing Don Silversides, QC. Governor Narbonne earned her law degree from the University of Ottawa. She is a member of the bars of both Manitoba and B.C. and has practised law since 1989. She has a litigation practice in Prince Rupert, was previously a staff lawyer with Legal Aid Manitoba and currently is the supervising lawyer for the Prince Rupert Legal Advocacy Project. When not practising law, Governor Narbonne runs marathons.

Departing Governor – Sholto Hebenton, QC
Governor Sholto Hebenton, QC finished his term as a Governor of the Law Foundation in December. During his tenure, Mr. Hebenton served on the Finance and Administration Committee, the Bursary, Scholarship and Fellowship Committee, the Policy and Planning Committee and was the Chair of both the Special Needs Fund Committee and the New Grants Committee. We all share a debt of gratitude to Governor Hebenton for his contribution to the foundation, both over the past few years and also further in the past. Governor Hebenton was instrumental in establishing the Law Foundation and in developing its mandate and vision in the early 1970’s.

Funding Strategies Review
The Law Foundation has initiated a Funding Strategies Review of all of its continuing programs. The review was announced at a recent meeting of the executive directors of Law Foundation funded continuing programs. This review is being undertaken to ensure the continued alignment of Law Foundation funding with its mission, and to optimize its grantmaking. The Law Foundation wants to use its limited resources to maximize the benefits to the public and to the legal profession in its five mandated areas. Its aim is to enable people in B.C. to have access to the best legal aid, legal education, legal research, law reform, and law libraries that its resources can provide.

The review will examine:

• how well funds are being spent in relation to the Law Foundation’s statutory mandate;

• whether funded programs are meeting the needs of the community; and

• whether the grant amounts are appropriate.

It is not anticipated that the review will result in significant or immediate reallocation of continuing program grants. However, adjustments may be necessary if the review suggests that improvement could be made in funding distribution or if new priorities are set.

This funding review in no way reflects a diminishment of the Law Foundation’s support for continuing programs. The Governors of the Law Foundation maintain a strong commitment to the principle of stability through core funding, and will continue to provide such support. The review will take place over the next three years.

Grants Approved
The Board of Governors of the Law Foundation met on November 22, 2003. Chair Heather Raven is pleased to announce that funding totalling $4,341,700 was approved for the following 16 programs and projects:

Continuing Programs
Legal Services Society (Operating Grant) - $3,272,500

B.C. Coalition of People With Disabilities (Advocacy Access Program) - $136,900

UBC Faculty of Law (Scholarships and Projects) - $127,500

Greater Vancouver Law Students’ Legal Advice Program (Operating Grant) - $121,000

Downtown Eastside Residents’ Association (Advocacy Services Program) - $103,300

UVIC Faculty of Law (Scholarships and Projects) - $84,000

UBC Faculty of Law (First Nations Clinical Program) - $65,500

Law Society of B.C. (CANLII Virtual Law Library) - $65,000

Law Courts Education Society (Northern Public Legal Education Program for First Nations Communities) - $60,800

Law Foundation Lay Advocacy Education and Training Fund  (Education and Training for Law Foundation-funded Lay Advocates) - $54,600

B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (Public Legal Education Program) - $20,800

Debate and Speech Association of B.C. (Law Foundation Cup Debates) - $14,300

Project Grants
Continuing Legal Education Society (CLE Needs Assessment Project) - $55,000

UBC Faculty of Law (Legal Education Access Project) - $55,000

UVIC Faculty of Law (Legal Education Access Project) - $55,000

Tenants’ Rights Action Coalition (New Residential Tenancy Legislation - Public Legal Education Project) - $50,500

This article was published in the February 2004 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2004, all rights reserved.