The CBA Admin Law Insider: November 2020

  • November 06, 2020

Welcome to a new year of activities with the Section! I must take this opportunity to thank our past Chair, Christopher Wirth, for his outstanding leadership. I look forward to continuing to work with Chris, and the rest of our committed executive committee members, in delivering value to our section members in the months ahead.

Like so much else in our lives right now, this year at the CBA will look a little different. We won’t be able to meet in Ottawa for the annual Administrative Law and Labour & Employment Law Conference in November as planned, but we are working on getting together virtually and bringing professional development to our members in other ways. On November 20 our two Sections will co-host a virtual fireside chat with Justice Malcolm Rowe of the Supreme Court of Canada, in conversation with Pierre Moreau.

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The Section continues to be involved with numerous initiatives, including contributing to national policy, commenting on proposed legislation, and providing input to the Federal Courts Bench and Bar Liaison Committee. We have several active subcommittees, including our Lobbying and Ethics Subcommittee. We invite you to visit the Section webpage to learn more about how you can become involved.

You can expect to receive the CBA Admin Law Insider in your inbox throughout the year. The Insider seeks to highlight legal developments and emerging issues in administrative law. If you know of an interesting case, legislative development or other noteworthy administrative law happening in your jurisdiction, please consider contributing to the Insider. We also publish member articles under the Section’s commentary banner, Intra Vires – a great opportunity to give back and get published.

Our support of young lawyers and law students continues. We will once again partner with the Laskin Moot Competition, with Section members from local CBA branches participating in practice sessions for moot teams at law schools across the country. The Section’s Paul Smith Memorial Essay Contest is open to any law student or young lawyer with an interest in administrative law. We are always looking for new ways to connect with law students and young lawyers. Your ideas are welcome and encouraged.

I look forward to working for you and with you in the year ahead.

Lisa D Hynes
Chair, CBA Administrative Law Section


Paul Smith Memorial Essay Contest – 2020 Winner!

Congratulations to Devan Schafer, PhD candidate at Queen’s University’s Faculty of Law, who is the 2020 winner of the Paul Smith Memorial Award. The award recognizes the best scholarly paper relating to administrative law written by a student or young lawyer (within first three years of call). Mr. Schafer’s paper, “Is There a Selection Effect in Administrative Law?” is available online.

The deadline for submissions for the 2021 award is April 30, 2021. The award includes a cash prize of $500. Find out more.

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Articles written by Section members are published under the banner of Intra Vires. Recent articles include:

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Get involved!

We’re always happy to have Section members express interest in getting involved with our committees. Please contact us for more information.


Discover the NewLaw series in partnership with the CBA Quebec Branch exploring the "disruptive" movement that brings evolution, creation and innovation to the practice of law and the delivery of legal services. This series will be in French only. Want to learn more? Take a look at the four webinars.