BarTalk June 1999
Volume 11, Number 3

Law Week was held April 11-17 this year to celebrate the anniversary of the proclamation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The BC sponsors of this celebration of Canada’s justice system included the CBA BC Branch, the Law Foundation, the Law Society, and the Vancouver Bar Association.

The spirit of Law Week was felt strongly in several BC communities. Congratulations to Law Week participants in Courtenay, Duncan, Nanaimo, Quesnel and Vernon. This year a mock trial was also held on the Internet. Brenda Brown, CBA Law Week Committee Chair, hopes to have more Vancouver area bar support next year. “It’s important for the public to be aware of Law Week and the benefit of law and of the lawyers in their community.”

The BC Branch coordinated Law Week contests for school children throughout BC. These contests included essay, poster, and public speaking competitions. The winners were: Essay Contest—Aniz Alani (Port Moody), Lucas Mattiello (Vancouver), Jennifer Whitmore (Summerland). Poster Contest—Carla Marquez (Burnaby), Kylene Cachelin (Kamloops), Michelle Berresheim (Fort St. John). Public Speaking—Sarah Hudson (Victoria), Aniz Alani (Port Moody), Raylene Kochel (Vanderhoof), Vishal Anand (Burnaby). Thanks to public speaking judges: George Angelomatis, Denice Barrie, John Cliffe, Elizabeth Edinger, Werner Heinrich, Ed Kroft, William Mah, Alisa Noda, Mr. Justice Wallace T. Oppal, Darlene Patrick, Lindsay P. Smith, and Gillian P. Wallace, QC.

A special part of Law Week includes one day in which BC residents can phone the CBA and receive free legal information. This year that special day was Saturday, April 17. Thanks to the following lawyers who together answered 553 calls (up 30 per cent over last year): Gary Abrams, Eric Aleksejev, Kathryn Basran, Jobst Bode, Noreen Brox, Keith Cameron, Max Collett, Dale Darychuk, Wendy Devine-Harris, Frank Dorchester, James Fraser, Deanne Gaffar, Kristin Graver, Doug Hager, Joanna Ho, Peter Lazier, Richard Lee, Russell Lew, Rhona Lichtenwald. Valerie Little, Richard Lui, James Martin, Lisa McLean, Rhonda Murray, Lawrence Myers, Robert Nelles, Helena Shum, David St. Pierre, Bonnie Teng, Richard Turner, Rosanna Wong, Victoria Xu, Xiao-Feng Zheng and Stuart Zukerman. Thanks also to the volunteer receptionists Arnold Ho, Benny Hui, Sherry Northcott, Susie O’Reilly, Lorna Paul, Mary Lou Robertson and Rachel Toddington.

A special thank you is extended to the Law Week Committee: Brenda Brown (Chair), Denise Barrie, Moncrief Carstairs, Barbara Lohmann, John Vamplew, Stephen Wright and Wendy Yoshida.

This article was published in the June 1999 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.