Letters to the ministers
The CBA is continuing to engage with the new federal cabinet ministers whose portfolios touch on issues of interest to our members. In addition to letters welcoming the new prime minister and the new Justice Minister, Stéphane Duval, Chair of the Immigration Law Section, also wrote to Immigration Minister John McCallum
“We are pleased that your government has committed to address many issues of mutual concern, including processing delays, challenges with family reunification and facilitating the immigration of entrepreneurs,” Duval wrote. “We are looking forward to working with you and your officials to convey the perspective of the legal profession.”
He also identified specific priorities of the Section, including “returning to a structured, principled and transparent approach to determining the priorities for Canada’s immigration system, including family reunification and global competitiveness,” creating opportunities for economic immigrants disadvantaged by current programs, and ensuring public access and due process for applications, among others.
Meanwhile, following the unprecedented release of ministerial mandate letters, which outline the goals of the government as a whole and the prime minister’s expectations for each portfolio, the CBA is analyzing the letters with an eye to the association’s own policies, to give a snapshot of how the two line up.
Interventions
R v Lloyd, where the CBA is intervening on the topic of mandatory minimum sentences, will be heard Jan. 13 at the Supreme Court. Eric Gottardi, a senior partner at Peck and Company in Vancouver, is handling the intervention on the CBA’s behalf.
As announced last month, the CBA Board of Directors has decided to seek leave to intervene in Trinity Western University v Law Society of Upper Canada, as contemplated when the CBA intervened in Nova Scotia Barristers' Society v. Trinity Western University. An application to intervene was filed in November. Susan Ursel of Ursel Phillips Fellows Hopkinson LLP leads the team of lawyers acting for the CBA. Others on the team include David Grossman of Irving Mitchell Kalichman and Amy Sakalauskas of Halifax.