Back To Law Matters | Spring 2016

President's Report

Our province has largely been treated to the arrival of an early spring, and in this season of renewal, it is appropriate that work on the renewal of the Canadian Bar Association is moving full steam ahead.

The CBA Re-Think Initiative took center stage at the recent Mid-Winter Meeting of Council in Ottawa in February.  The new CBA Strategic Direction was presented by Re-Think Steering Committee Chair (and CBA Alberta Past President) Steven Mandziuk, QC, and passed with overwhelming support from the National Council.  At the beginning of April, this Strategic Direction document was brought to the Alberta Branch in a special meeting of Council where it was presented alongside two proposed governance models.  In mid-April, the CBA National Board established a Governance Transition Task Force, which will finalize the new CBA governance model for approval by the Board, and then by National Council at the August meeting of Council in Ottawa.  We are looking forward to starting the 2016-17 year by sharing this information with Alberta Branch members.

Tied to the Re-Think Initiative was also a rebrand of the CBA’s marketing activities.  Members may have already noticed the “new look” on the national CBA website, as well as the websites for the British Columbia and Ontario Branches.  The Alberta Branch website is next in line for a rebrand, and final touches are currently underway.  The new website has many new and exciting features, including “MyCBA”, which provides a space for members to customize how they interact with the CBA. Members can expect to see the new CBA Alberta Branch website live by the end of the spring.  

The ability to advocate on behalf of the legal profession has been one of the priorities of our organization throughout the life of the CBA, and will continue to be after the completion of the Re-Think Initiative. The CBA has been involved in a number of advocacy efforts already this year, both at the national and provincial levels.  Nationally, the CBA intervened at the Supreme Court of Canada on Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta v. University of Calgary to address fundamental issues related to solicitor/client privilege.  The CBA pro bono counsel in this case included Alberta Branch Past Presidents Jim Lebo, QC and Michele Hollins, QC, and Alberta Branch member Jason Wilkins.  

Provincially, the Alberta Branch working group on traffic court reform was pleased to see some of their innovative suggestions related to streamlining and simplifying how minor offences are enforced built into the recently introduced Bill 9, An Act to Modernize Enforcement of Provincial Offences.  My hat goes off to the members of this working group (Marian De Souza, QC, Michael Bates, Chad Conrad, Marlo MacGregor and Alan Pearse) and the Agenda for Justice and Advocacy Committee, which regularly provides comments on issues affecting the justice system in our province.    

In April, we celebrated the 34th annual Law Day with activities in Calgary, Edmonton, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Slave Lake and St. Paul (activities in Fort McMurray will be forthcoming at the end of May).  As organizations such as Legal Aid Alberta and others who provide free or discounted legal advice to the public are becoming overwhelmed with the need in our province, Law Day remains an important event in the CBA calendar for providing access to justice.  In addition to providing access to local courthouses, many Law Day events in the province also provide free legal consultations through “Ask a Lawyer” or similar events.  This year also marked the fourth annual Dial-a-Lawyer event, which was held in conjunction with Law Day on April 16.  Early feedback from the event indicates that the number of calls we received this year more than doubled from 2015.  I want to personally thank all of the volunteers who gave their time to make these events a success, Legal Aid Alberta, who provided us with the space, technology, and expertise to run Dial-a-Lawyer again this year, and all of our other community partners. 

We have been proud to introduce some first-rate professional development to our members over the first part of 2016.  In January, we released the Legal Media Relations video series, the aim of which is to help bridge the pide that sometimes exists between the legal profession and the media.  We are pleased to say that we have received enthusiastic feedback from the CBA National office, and this program has been accredited in other jurisdictions.  If you have not already done so, you can view the “trailer” for this series and register on the CBA Alberta website.   

Coming up at the end of May is a new entry into our Savvy Lawyers Series of webinars called “Effective Advocacy Through Opening the Closed Mind”.  This webinar will feature insights into the science behind opening minds, practical suggestions on how to open the closed mind to persuasion and real examples from seasoned Alberta practitioners.  We welcome panelists Glen Hickerson of Wilson Laycraft (author of The Science of Opening the Closed Mind), Patrick Fitzpatrick of Burstall Winger Zammitt LLP and Tim Foster of Foster Iovinelli Beyak to present on this fascinating topic.  More information for this webinar is also available on our website

Last, but certainly not least, I want to extend my congratulations to Ola Malik, who was acclaimed as the incoming Secretary for 2016-17 for the CBA Alberta.  Ola has long been an active member of the CBA Alberta, with some of his past roles in the branch including Chair of the Municipal Law Section, Chair and Co-Chair of the Access to Justice Committee, regular contributor to Law Matters through the “Unsung Hero” column (read his latest entry on page 8), and enthusiastic member of the Editorial Committee.  Please join me in congratulating Ola on his new position.  The 2016-17 CBA Alberta Executive Committee will consist of Maureen Armitage as Executive Director, myself as Past President, Ola Malik as Secretary, Frank Friesacher as Treasurer, Jenny McMordie as Vice-President and Jeremiah Kowalchuk as Branch President.


Wayne is the 2015-16 President of the Canadian Bar Association, Alberta Branch. He has practiced law for more than 20 years, having been in-house counsel for Canadian Airlines Internatoinal before switching to the practice of family law. As a partner with the firm of Wise Schieble Barkauskas in Calgary, Wayne has become one of the most experienced family law lawyers in the province, and is now also a mediator, a parenting coordinator, and arbitrator.