The Canadian Legal Conference (CLC) takes place in Vancouver Aug. 12-14. There are plenty of reasons to attend the only national gathering of Canada’s legal community – here are just a few:
•Take networking to a national level. Connect with 1,000+ legal professionals from across Canada at breakfasts, lunches, receptions, entertainment events, late night parties, and the ever-popular at-home dinners.
•Earn professional development credits. Some of Canada’s top legal minds are presenting at 15 PD programs and 12 corporate counsel workshops over a 2-day period.
•Have your voice heard by the federal Minister of Justice, Rob Nicholson. The federal Justice Minister will host his yearly dialogue, touching on current justice issues and allowing members to raise concerns and questions.
•Hear from thought-provoking speakers. Speakers include Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Canadian diplomat and author Robert Fowler, and critically acclaimed science writer Jonah Lehrer.
•Enjoy top musical entertainment. Rock out with the legendary Randy Bachman of The Guess Who and BTO fame. Opening for Bachman will be this year’s winner of CBA-BC’s Battle of the Bar Bands fundraiser. [Sponsored by Stewart Title.]
Take advantage of early bird rates by registering before June 29 – visit www.cba.org/Vancouver2012 for all the details.
In a May 7 letter to the standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, National Criminal Justice Chair Dan MacRury, writing on behalf of the CBA, says that Bill C-309 (concealment of identity) is unnecessary. He argues that it will not allow for more effective law enforcement, will not enhance public safety and may serve to hinder the fundamental constitutional and democratic right of Canadians to protest and participate in lawful assemblies.
Immigration Law Section Chair Joshua Sohn says that regulations published by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) on March 10, 2012, fall short of their objectives of determining marriage fraud and create unnecessary hardship for bone fide spouses who experience genuine marriage breakdown within two years of landing in Canada.
In his April 10 letter to CIC on behalf of the CBA, Joshua Sohn applauds the government’s creation of two exceptions:
• For victims of domestic violence and other spousal abuse.
• For couples who had children prior to filing the application to sponsor the permanent resident.
Ron Skolrood of Vancouver, a member of the CBA’s Working Group on Proceeds of Crime, recently appeared before the Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce on April 4 to speak out on behalf of the CBA in defense of solicitor-client privilege during the Committee’s five year review of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act.
Ron Skolrood explained that while the CBA supports the government’s attempts to combat money laundering, these efforts must not interfere with the public's right to consult a lawyer in confidence. Read the submission
In a letter dated March 22 to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, Kelly Jordan, Chair of the National Family Law Section, along with Mark Berlin and Amy Sakalauskas, Co-Chairs of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Conference (SOGIC) said that Canada has an obligation to provide LGBT couples with the proper mechanism to end their marriages should their relationships break down.
Although supportive of the government's attempt to achieve this with Bill C-32, the CBA notes the Bill's goal should be to treat non-resident divorces as consistently as possible with other divorces granted in Canada under the Divorce Act.
Take advantage of flexible programming:
Start now by viewing either Corporate or Litigation programming.