Conversations with the President

Take a deep dive into issues that matter the most. Conversations with the President is a CBA podcast in which legal experts discuss priorities with the CBA President. These long-form discussions are a great complement to the advocacy work of the Association. A meeting of great minds you won’t want to miss! 

LATEST EPISODES

L’honorable Michelle O’Bonsawin

Conversations with the President
June 2023

Transcript

Entretien du prĂ©sident de l’Association du Barreau canadien, Steeves Bujold, avec l’honorable Michelle O’Bonsawin de la Cour SuprĂŞme du Canada.

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Prof. Martin Blais

Conversations with the President
May 2023

Transcript

Entretien du prĂ©sident avec Martin Blais, professeur titulaire au dĂ©partement de sexologie de l’UniversitĂ© du QuĂ©bec Ă  MontrĂ©al. Ils discutent de l’homophobie et de la transphobie et du rĂ´le qu’a jouĂ© la loi dans leur Ă©mergence. 

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Me Marie Laure Leclercq

Conversations with the President
April 2023

Transcript

Le prĂ©sident de l’Association du barreau canadien, Steeves Bujold, en conversation avec Me Marie Laure Leclercq.

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Judge Kael McKenzie

Conversations with the President
March 2023

Transcript

CBA President Steeves Bujold in conversation with the first transgender person ever appointed a judge in Canada, Judge Kael McKenzie of the Provincial Court of Manitoba.

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Me Clément Gascon

Conversations with the President
March 2023

Transcript

Le prĂ©sident de l’Association du Barreau canadien, Steeves Bujold, en conversation avec Me ClĂ©ment Gascon.

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barbara findlay

Conversations with the President
February 2023

Transcript

Canadian Bar Association president Steeves Bujold welcomes SOGIC co-founder and winner of the 2022 Louis St-Laurent Award, barbara findlay.

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Mx Lee Nevens

Conversations with the President
October 2022

Transcript

CBA President Steeves Bujold in conversation with Mx Lee Nevens, Second Vice President of CBABC and SOGIC Committee co-chair.

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Put Your Best Into Everything You Do

Conversations with the President
July 2022

Transcript

Justice Mahmud Jamal of the Supreme Court of Canada in conversation with CBA President Stephen Rotstein. An inspiring conversation about role models, volunteerism, mental health in the legal profession, almost giving up in law school, and Elton John.

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ESG and Positive Change for ALL in the 21st Century

Conversations with the President
June 2022

Transcript

CBA President Stephen Rotstein in conversation with Marc-André Blanchard, Head of CDPQ Global and Global Head of Sustainability. How to find solutions when confronted with the ever-changing realities of the 21st Century world we live in, from climate change to the hybrid model.

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Economic Reconciliation with Geordie Hungerford

Conversations with the President
June 2022

Transcript

CBA President Stephen Rotstein and First Nations Financial Management Board CEO Geordie Hungerford discuss Economic Reconciliation. An inspiring conversation about turning things around and growing together.

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Advocate for Change – Caitlin Urquhart

Conversations with the President
May 2022

Transcript

CBA President Stephen Rotstein in Conversation with Caitlin Urquhart. They discuss volunteerism, systemic racism, mental health, and social media.

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Best of Stephen Rotstein & Guests on Mental Health

Conversations with the President
May 2022

Transcript

Conversations with the President Mental Health Week Special: Highlights from Stephen Rotstein’s conversations with Justice Michele Hollins, Kendra Goertzen and Caitlin Urquhart.

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CBA Pro Bono Initiatives: Ukraine – Afghanistan

Conversations with the President
April 2022

Stephen Rotstein speaks to CBA Pro Bono Initiatives Coordinator Bjorna Shkurti about how CBA Lawyers are helping refugees from Ukraine and Afghanistan, and about her own remarkable journey from war-torn Albania to the Alberta Bar.

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Overcoming addiction with Kendra Goertzen

Conversations with the President
March 2022

Transcript

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, has a heartfelt conversation with Kendra Goertzen, the inaugural recipient of the Grant Davis Collegiality and Wellbeing Award, granted by the Manitoba branch of the CBA.

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Building Communities with Tom Ullyett

Conversations with the President
February 2022

Transcript

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, meets with Tom Ullyett, chair of the Employment Standards Board, a member of the Yukon University’s Board of Governors and co-chair of the Yukon branch Public Sector’s Lawyer’s section. He’s recognized for being a community builder who’s helped support a generation of Yukon public sector lawyers.

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Living through Depression: Michele Hollins's story

Conversations with the President
January 2022

Transcript

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, speaks with former CBA President Madam Justice Michele Hollins about her battle with depression.

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Leading lasting changes in international athletics

Conversations with the President
December 2021

Transcript

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, speaks with James Bunting, founding partner of Tyr LLP. They talk about his atypical career path, his work in gender equity and sports regulations, and his various volunteer roles.

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Helping Canada’s vulnerable communities

Conversations with the President
November 2021

Transcript

CBA President, Stephen Rotstein, hosts his first episode with guest Wei William Tao. They talk about volunteering, his community involvement and his work in the immigration law area.

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Meet Stephen Rotstein, CBA President 2021

Conversations with the President
November 2021

Transcript

Stephen Rotstein, CBA President for the year 2021-2022, meets with The Every Lawyer host Marlisse Silver-Sweeney. They discuss his priority for the year and his upcoming podcast Conversations with the President.

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Meet Bradley Regehr, CBA President 2020

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
November 2020

Transcript

We are chatting with Brad Regehr, the new Canadian Bar Association President and the first Indigenous person to take on the role. We’re talking about reconciliation, Covid-19 and even his amateur theatre career.

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Conversation on Call-To-Action 11 - Adequate Education Funding

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
December 2020

Transcript

For his first episode as host of Conversations with the President, Brad talks with Alyssa Bird, Evans Family Law, and Robin Sutherland, Director of Indigenous Relations at Lakehead’s Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, about the The Truth and Reconciliation’s eleventh call to action.

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Conversations on Call to Action 27 - Cultural Competency Training

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
January 2021

Transcript

Brad Regehr discusses Call to Action number 27's aim at making sure practising lawyers receive cultural competency training, with Jennifer David and Michael McDonald, Q.C.

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Conversations on Calls to action 34-40 - Indigenous people in the justice system

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
February 2021

Transcript

President Brad Regehr discusses Calls to Action 34 and 40 with Harold R. Johnson and Stacey Soldier. They speak on the problem of over-incarceration of Indigenous peoples and how the system failed them.

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Conversations on Calls to Action 28 - Going to school

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
March 2021

Transcript

President Brad Regehr meets with Dr. Val Napoleon and Sigma Daum Shanks to discuss Call to Action 28, which calls on law schools to require students to take a course in Aboriginal people and the law.

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Conversations on Calls to action 42, 50, 51, 62 Recognition of Aboriginal justice systems

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
April 2021

Transcript

President Brad Regehr discusses the recognition of Aboriginal justice systems with John Borrows and Naiomi Metallic.

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Conversations on Calls to Action 43, 44, 45, 46 and 92 - UNDRIP as a reconciliation framework

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
May 2021

Transcript

President Brad Regehr discusses the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with Aimée Craft and Brenda Gunn.

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Conversations on Call to Action 57 - Aboriginal-Crown relations

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
July 2021

Transcript

President Brad Regehr speaks with Maggie Wente and David Nahwegahbow on Call to Action number 57 which calls for governments at all levels to educate civil servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Indigenous law and Aboriginal-Crown relations.

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Beyond the CTAs

Conversations with the President | The President's Take on TRC's Calls to Action
August 2021

Transcript

For his final episode as host of Conversations with the President, CBA President Brad Regehr speaks with Cindy Blackstock and Dr Pamela Palmater to discuss the next steps beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action.

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Meet Vivene Salmon, CBA President 2019

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
November 2019

Transcript

We are chatting with Vivene Salmon, the new Canadian Bar Association President and the first person of colour to take on the roll. We discuss her own podcast series, Conversations with the President.

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After the Crash

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
December 2019

Transcript

Vivene meets Jordan Furlong and Omar Ha-Redeye to look at how the legal profession is changing due to societal, economic and technology forces and what this means for lawyers in Canada.

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School Days

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
January 2020

Transcript

Are there are too many law schools producing too many grads for too few articling positions and jobs once they’ve passed the bar? Why add a new law school in Canada? Ronit Dinovitzer and Anver Saloojee answer.

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Ready, set... practice!

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
March 2020

Transcript

Vivene talks to two law school deans, Ian Holloway and Camille Cameron about their education experience and who should be providing on-the-job training.

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Young Lawyers Going Solo

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
April 2020

Transcript

Vivene meets with Erin Cowling and Kim Gale to discuss the rejection of the traditional law firm model, billable hours and entrepreneurship.

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Pivoting in crisis

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
May 2020

Transcript

Martine Boucher and Vivene discuss the impact of today's reality can have on small and solo legal practices.

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The business of Law

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
July 2020

Transcript

Vivene talks with Jamie Benizri and Monica Goyal about entrepreneurship and how the business of law will be different after COVID.

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Mentorship, Sponsorship and Diversity

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
July 2020

Transcript

Vivene talks with Ruth Goba about mentorship and sponsorship and how they navigate the Canadian legal space as black women.

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Aly Haji and Allan Rock

Conversations with the President | The State of the Profession
August 2020

Transcript

For her last episode as host of Conversations with the President, Vivene Salmon has an intergenerational dialogue with Aly Haji and Allan Rock.

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Meet Raymond Adlington, 2018 CBA President

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
November 2018

Meet Ray Adlington, the CBA president. In this podcast, we discuss his vision for the Association, his history battling depression and why he's become a champion of inclusivity and diversity in the profession.

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Conversation with diversity and inclusion expert

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
December 2018

Ray meets Ritu Bhasin, expert in diversity and inclusion, to demystify cultural competency in the workplace.

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Conversation with Indigenous Lawyers

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
January 2019

Merle Alexander and Naiomi Metallic, Indigenous Canadian lawyers, share with Ray, their experiences as part of the legal system.

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Conversations with LGBTQ2S+ Lawyers

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
February 2019

In this episode, Ray will be talking with two LGBTQ2S+ lawyers about their experience within the Canadian legal system, Preston Parsons and Nicole Nussbaum.

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Conversations with Racialized Lawyers

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
March 2019

In this episode, Ray meets Charlene Theodore, 2nd Vice-President of the Ontario Bar Association, who is the first black woman to occupy this position. He also meets with David A Curry, Crown Attorney in Digby, Nova Scotia, to discuss his experience as a black and Mi’kmaq lawyer.

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Conversations with Women Lawyers: Part 1 with Anne McLellan

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
April 2019

In this episode, Ray will be talking with Anne McLellan, counsel with Bennett Jones in Edmonton, who has risen to the top of Canada’s federal political spectrum and lives to tell the tale.

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Conversations with Women Lawyers: Part 2 with Kim Campbell

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
May 2019

In this episode Ray talks social media, her career in law and politics and how she deals with it all.

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Conversation with a lawyer living with a disability

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
June 2019

Transcript

Ray meets with Lorin McDonald, a lawyer from Toronto who was born with profound hearing loss in both ears. They discuss her journey through law school, the Accessible Canada Act (passed on May 29) and more!

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Conversation with a diversity and inclusion leader

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
August 2019

Transcript

Ray meets with Sacha de Klerk, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Canada, Norton Rose Fulbright. They talk inclusion initiatives, promoting diversity and the need for substantive data.

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Best of Conversations with the President 2018

Conversations with the President | Raising the Bar on Inclusion
August 2019

Last episode of Conversations with the President: Raising the Bar on Inclusion. Ray shares some of his favourite moments from this past year.

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