 Another exciting year of Law Week activities
Every year, the CBABC works with our partners in the justice system to bring together hundreds of schools, community groups, media outlets and legal organizations to celebrate the Law and its contribution to our society. Funding for this year’s Law Week celebration was generously provided by the Law Foundation of BC, the Law Society of BC, and the Vancouver Bar Association.
Throughout BC, local lawyers were involved in speaker events, short story contests, mock trials, open houses at the courts, high school visits, and student mentoring activities. In Vancouver, three very special events set the tone for one of the most high profile Law Weeks in years: Dial-A-Lawyer Day (toll free access to 24 volunteer lawyers at the CBABC offices); the Barry Sullivan Cup public speaking competition with 25 students from schools across the province, and an Open House at the Vancouver Public Library downtown.
The Open House was a big success, attracting hundreds of interested members of the public to visit the decorated concourse, ask questions of the people hosting 24 displaying agencies, and visit with guest “stars” from the Vancouver Police Dog Squad. The Opening Ceremony featured Justice Wally Oppal on behalf of Chief Justice Donald Brenner, Stephen Owen MP representing Minister of Justice Anne McLellan, Chief Judge Carol Baird Ellan, Vancouver City Mayor Philip Owen, CBABC President Margaret Ostrowski, QC, Law Society of BC President Richard Margetts QC, and Vancouver Bar Association President Ursula Botz.
Dial-A-Lawyer day was fun for our volunteers, fielding calls on all areas of law from 10 am to 2 pm, including 164 Chinese language calls courtesy of the CBABC’s partnership with SUCCESS, a Vancouver agency working within the Chinese-Canadian community. Our thanks to all lawyers who volunteered for this year’s Dial-A-Lawyer Day: Gary Abrams, Alex Dantzer, Dale Darychuk, Corey Dreveny, Helen del Val, Rick Edgar, Stephen Gibson, James Gill, Paul Gill, Doug Hager, Kyle Hyndman, Steven Jung, Greg Lanning, Kirsten Madsen, Derek May, Dale McGregor, Wes Mussio, Robert Nelles, Joy O’Dwyer, Kathleen Packard, Allan Parker, Mandeep Randhawa, Jonathan Taylor, and Bonnie Teng.
The CBABC is a proud sponsor of the Barry Sullivan Cup, an annual public speaking competition for high school students. Many schools hold competitions to determine who will travel to Vancouver for the final event, judged by lawyers and judges who volunteer their time, expertise and experience. This year’s finalist judges – choosing three runners-up and a winner from among an exceptional slate of talented young men and women – were Madame Justice Heather Holmes, Terry La Liberté, QC, and Professor Elizabeth Edinger. The 10 finalists were selected from 24 competitors by semi-finalist judges Gordon Comer, Terry La Liberté, QC, Darryl Larson, Margaret Ostrowski, QC, Richard Peck, QC, and Elizabeth Rowbotham. Winners were: First Place, Eileen Jones, (Elgin Park Secondary, Surrey); First Runner Up, David Levesque (W. L. Seaton Secondary, Vernon); Second Runner Up, Dan Tobias (Southridge School, Surrey); Third Runner Up (tie) Mark Wells (George Pringle Secondary, Westbank); and Third Runner Up (tie) Megan Lyons (Burnaby Mountain Secondary, Burnaby).
Law Week would not be possible without the leadership of many individual lawyers and local bar associations in communities throughout the province, and we thank all of them. Special thanks also to the 2001 Law Week Committee: Co-Chair Monty Carstairs, Co-Chair Denice Barrie, Robert Brun, Vivian Chiang, Stephen Cooke, Joe Coutts, Brad Daisley, Joel Gold, Michael Libby, Joanne McKee, Robert Rogers, and John Vamplew.
See you at a Law Week event in your community next year!
This article was published in the June 2001 issue of BarTalk. © 2001 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved. |
