BarTalk June 1999
Volume 11, Number 3

New National Executive Elected

At the CBA’s Mid-winter Meeting in Montebello, Quebec in February, three new members of the National Executive were elected and 13 resolutions were brought to Council. Four resolutions were tabled and the remaining nine were carried. All resolutions can be viewed on the CBA Web Site (www.cba.org).

Included in the resolutions which were passed were recommendations from the Triennial Review Steering Committee on the CBA’s organization and strategic direction, with an amendment to ensure that National and Branches coordinate activities and the Branches work with National on international matters; and increased support for the Canadian Bar Review, through a $5 levy.

Resolutions tabled for discussion at the August AGM in Edmonton include:

• a request for funding for the Future of the Legal Profession Program by the Young Lawyers Conference;

• a call from the CBAO Gender Issues Committee to recognize accomplishments of women in the legal profession at a luncheon at the Annual Conference;

• a public relations campaign to improve the image of lawyers; and

• recognition by governments of same-sex relationships on the same terms as common-law relationships.

Also at the Mid-winter Meeting, Executive Committee members were elected as follows: Daphne Dumont, QC, of Charlottetown, elected first Vice-President; Eric Rice, QC, of Vancouver, elected second Vice-President; and Edward Rowan-Legg, of Toronto, as Treasurer. All three assume their positions at the close of the CBA Annual Conference in Edmonton, joining Eugene Meeghan who assumes the presidency. The Treasurer is elected for a three-year term. The Vice-Presidents move up one position each year, en route to the presidency. That means that BC’s Eric Rice, QC will be National President in 2001/02.

Daphne Dumont, QC
Daphne Dumont, QC has 20 years of experience as a private practitioner in a small firm in Prince Edward Island. She has been President of the P.E.I. Branch, a member of the National Executive Committee and has chaired the Resolutions Committee. She was a member of the CBA’s Gender Equality Task Force. Among Daphne Dumont’s priorities are to improve legal aid funding and to protect the independence of the judiciary.

Eric Rice, QC
Eric Rice, QC is a well-known litigator from Vancouver, and was President of the BC Branch in 1995. He has served on the National Executive Committee, and has chaired the Member Services, Priorities and Planning and Multicultural Committees. His priorities include emerging issues, communications, technology, and membership. Eric Rice, QC is also a Governor of The Law Foundation of BC.

Edward Rowan-Legg
Edward Rowan-Legg is Assistant General Counsel at the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto. He has been active in the CBA since 1988 serving as Treasurer of CBA-Ontario and Chair of CBAO’s Strategic Planning Committee. He has been a member of the National Executive Committee. His priorities include sound financial management and clear and timely financial reporting.

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.