BarTalk October 2003
Volume 15, Number 5

New services for members

by Frank C Kraemer

The Canadian Bar Association is committed to providing services of real value to its members. In this article, I would like to outline for you several exciting new developments.

First, the CBA and the Canadian Bar Insurance Association have incorporated the CBA Financial Services Corporation to provide financial services to CBA members at advantageous rates. While it is intended that this Corporation will provide a variety of financial services, the most important of these will be introduced this fall – a registered retirement savings plan.

CBA Financial Corporation is in the final stages of selecting the service provider who will offer the management of the RRSPs to members and their staff at attractive fund management fee rates.

Many of you are familiar with the RRSP plan that has for a number of years been offered by the British Columbia Medical Association to doctors.

This is a wonderful opportunity for CBA members in that the strength of numbers has permitted real bargaining power that will mean more of the wealth in your RRSP plan remains available to you rather than being paid to a fund manager. You should expect to receive more information with greater detail before the end of the year.

The second significant development is the introduction of ListServs (Message Boards) by CBABC. Message Boards are available for all Sections at www.bccba.org under CBABC Sections. A general discussion Message Board is in the Lawyer Lounge on the Web site.

Our Message Boards provide a platform to ask questions, offer advice and share information online. One of the important features is the ability of members to register to participate in discussions via e-mail. For more details about the operation of the Message Boards see the Web column in the August issue of BarTalk (available online at www.bccba.org). As well, we are seeking moderators for each Message Board (see page 18).

Finally, in this issue you will find a new member services insert. Previously, the CBABC published a member services pamphlet that was distributed on an annual basis. It was reported to us that often members misplaced it or the information became outdated. It is our current intention to include a member services insert with each BarTalk. The insert will detail the entire list of CBA preferred suppliers and legal products, as well as a “hot sheet” which will highlight current specials and limited time offers available to CBABC members.

Another new feature that we have introduced is an invitation to members to sign up for the member services e-mail distribution list. This is a confidential list which will be used only by CBA member services to distribute electronically member services updates only to those members who wish to receive the information. To sign up, send an e-mail to members@bccba.org with the words “please add me” in the subject line. As with similar types of subscriptions, you may unsubscribe at any time.

In this issue, you will also find information with respect to our annual Whistler/Blackcomb lift ticket program. Members who participate in the program receive substantial savings by purchasing their ski passes through CBABC member services.

As well, I am pleased to report that the CBABC this year, has expanded its ski promotion program to include Sun Peaks Resort and Mount Washington Alpine Resort. Members will have access to reduced prices on single day tickets until November 14, 2003.

The CBABC Member Services Committee is always interested in investigating and offering new and additional member services to members. If you have ideas, please forward them to me.

This article was published in the October 2003 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.