OTTAWA – Vivene Salmon of Toronto began her year-long tenure as CBA President on Sept. 1, 2019. Salmon is the 123-year-old Association’s first president of colour, and only the second president from the in-house counsel community. She takes over from Raymond Adlington of Halifax. Brad Regehr of Manitoba takes over as Vice-President.
Seven new members were also welcomed to the CBA Board of Directors on Sept. 1: Chandra Flett of Alberta, Susan Gover of Newfoundland and Labrador, Marc Noreau of Nunavut, Stephen Rotstein of Ontario, Steeves Bujold of Quebec, Bonnie Reddekopp of Saskatchewan and Hugh William (Bill) Veenstra, Q.C., of B.C. They join six incumbents who are entering the second year of their two-year terms.
“My personal priority will be on sparking intergenerational dialogue between young lawyers and senior leaders in the legal profession,” Salmon says. One of the ways she will do that is through a podcast series titled Conversations with the President that will address issues where the generations may not see eye-to-eye. It will debut in November.
A healthy legal profession is also top-of-mind for the new CBA President. “Being a healthy lawyer must be a priority – on an individual level as well as on a firm level, regardless of whether that firm is large or small,” she says. “It is critical that when one of the members of our legal community stumbles or falls, we extend a hand to lift them up.”
Salmon is Vice-President, Country Compliance Manager, Global Banking and Markets Compliance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Toronto. She joined the CBA in 2006 and since being called to the Ontario Bar in 2010 has been actively involved in both the CBA and OBA in various roles and committees, including International Law, Business, CCCA, Young Lawyers and the Mentorship Program, as well as the Board of Directors at both the branch and national levels. In 2019 she chaired the organizing committee for the CBA’s first conference aimed at racialized lawyers.
Quick facts
- Vivene Salmon received her JD at the University of Ottawa in 2009
- She studied political science with a minor in English at Wilfred Laurier University
- She is studied public policy at Queen’s University
- She worked in communications with the Ontario government before applying to law school
Related links
CBA Board of Directors webpage
About the CBA
The CBA is dedicated to support for the rule of law, and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 36,000 lawyers, notaries in Quebec, law teachers and law students from across Canada are members.