As Chair, I invite you to participate in and support the efforts of the Section. While we have come out of the isolation of the “Covid Years”, we have not had the chance to get together for some “in person time”. This term we hope to address that.
Currently, in-person opportunities will be directed at students who may be considering a local government practice. It is the Executive’s hope that this spring we will be able to host two “lunch and learns” for students. These sessions are being planned for the University of Calgary and the Montreal area law schools. If you are in either of those locations and would like to get involved, please contact us.
Our area of practice is both diverse, as we respond to the unique problems municipalities face in the different regions of our vast country, and yet eerily familiar wherever we go. The names and faces may change from place to place but we still “enjoy resolving” many of the same types of problems: immutable political forces undaunted by the facts that surround them, neighbours who believe that local governments have magical powers and are to blame for everything, and clients who believe that we have shed the bounds of mortal coils and can warp the space time continuum to deliver yesterday the assignment they gave us today.
Through it all, we face the challenges knowing this is indeed a more interesting practice area than we ever suspected. Involvement in the national Section can lighten your burden by the sharing of information and experience with other practitioners of municipal/local government law.
The Section has several resources for your practice, including a guide to create a municipal lobbyist registry and a legal guide for municipal governments tackling homelessness, one of the most pressing and difficult issues local governments are struggling with across Canada.
CBA MUNICIPAL LAW AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
This year, the Section will be presenting an award to an outstanding practitioner of local government law. The Award of Excellence seeks to recognize a lawyer who has made a significant contribution or notable achievement in municipal law.
Nomination deadline: January 6, 2023. Find out more about the criteria and nomination process.
ESSAY CONTEST WINNER
The most recent winner of the annual Municipal Law Student Essay Contest is Jasmine Law whose paper “Constitutional Entrenchment of Large Canadian Cities via Section 43 Amendment”, provided a unique look into the constitutional and legal contexts of local governments in Canada and a possible resolution of issues they face. Jasmine Law recently graduated from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. Please promote our essay contest to students who might be interested!
MEMBER ARTICLES
We would like to update our webpage with new material. Therefore, if you have a paper or presentation you think could be of interest to other municipal law practitioners, please send your work to us for possible inclusion on our webpage.
MORE RELEVANT, RECENT PD!
On-demand recordings are now available:
Finally, if you have questions about the Section, or for that matter, if you want to talk about a thorny local government problem, please feel free to contact me.
We look forward to a great year together!
Ralph G. Hildebrand
Chair, 2022-2023, CBA Municipal Law Section