ARCTIC OBITER

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2 | <strong>ARCTIC</strong> <strong>OBITER</strong> 4th Floor, Diamond Plaza 5204 – 50 th Avenue P.O. Box 1298 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N9 TEL: (867) 873-3828 FAX: (867) 873-6344 info@lawsociety.nt.ca www.lawsociety.nt.ca PRESIDENT Sheila MacPherson VICE-PRESIDENT Erin Delaney SECRETARY Cayley Thomas TREASURER Kelly McLaughlin LAYPERSON Maureen Crotty Williams INSIDE 8 10 CBA National News A new national news portal provided by the CBA National office. Hitting the Books by Ben Russo 3 President’s Message 14 NWT Decision Digest P.O. Box 1985 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2P5 TEL: (867) 669-7739 FAX: (867) 873-6344 PRESIDENT Malinda Kellett VICE PRESIDENT Jeannette Savoie SECRETARY / TREASURER Glen Rutland 4 CBA Bar Notes (from the President) 5 Executive Director’s Message 19 Supreme Court of Canada Update 22 Notices info@cba-nt.org cba.org/northwest PAST PRESIDENT Elaine Keenan Bengts MEMBERS OF COUNCIL Sheldon Toner 6 Membership News 13 NWT Legislative News 23 Resources Shannon Smallwood Caroline Wawzonek Charlene Doolittle EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Linda Whitford linda.whitford@lawsociety.nt.ca DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS LEGAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR Ben Russo ben.russo@lawsociety.nt.ca ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Shannon Hogan shannon.hogan@lawsociety.nt.ca Arctic Obiter is a joint publication of the Law Society of the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Branch of the Canadian Bar Association. It is published on a bi-monthly basis to keep lawyers practicing in the NWT informed of news, announcements, programs and activities. Comments, articles and photos for consideration can be submitted to Ben Russo. Past and current issues are available on the Law Society website. FROM THE EDITOR Once in awhile, it’s important to reassess your career and that often-ignored relationship with work, if even to oil up the wheels while you stay on track. Once in awhile, that reassessment forces itself on you with a decent dose of pay dirt. In this case, I’m talking about the feel-good vibe and job-welldone attitude I’ve been permitted to strut around with recently. Months (and years) of hard work and elbow grease went into the 2011 Intensive Trial Advocacy Program and, given the positive feedback from students, instructors and judges, that effort has certainly paid off. Yet, it’s striking to think that all of it was made possible by a select passionate few committed to the growth of a Northern-focused advocacy program. Still, there is so much to learn from this last undertaking, and I believe the Program will be that much better 2013. It’s been a pleasure helping out with some very dedicated organizers, and I’m looking forward to the next program in 2013. In the meantime, find out what you missed on page 10. - Ben
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 | 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Agreeing on Mobility Summer is definitely far behind us and winter is fast approaching by the looks of the hoarfrost on the trees this morning. It’s been a busy fall and there is much to report. I was privileged to be able to attend the Federation of Law Societies meeting in PEI in September, together with Cayley Thomas, Kelly MacLaughlin and Linda Whitford. For us, one issue dominated the national agenda; namely, the Territorial Mobility Agreement (TMA) which expires December 31, 2011. As members know, the NWT, Yukon and Nunavut are not part of the national mobility protocol. Rather, all three territories entered into a separate agreement almost five years ago which recognized the unique challenges faced by northern law societies as they attempt to govern independently and in the public interest. The TMA has worked well and the three northern territories have sought an indefinite extension to the Agreement. Clearly, the challenges which led to the signing of the TMA persist in Sheila MacPherson all three territories and all three law societies were strongly of the view that we were not ready for full national mobility at this time. Our request has been before the Federation of Law Societies for some time now and we continue to work very actively on this issue behind the scenes. We had hoped to have a resolution of this issue during the September meetings, however, there are still some issues to be dealt with at the Federation level. We remain, as they say, cautiously optimistic that the TMA will be extended indefinitely. If not, you will most assuredly receive an update as to what that means to you as a member of our law society. On the national stage at the Federation meetings, I was also struck by how much all law societies, and the Federation, are doing with respect to harmonizing processes and rules across the country. Discipline is one key area where a pilot project with respect to quality standards is being tested and admissions standards are not far behind. There is no doubt that a more uniform approach to governance is the objective of the Federation and that will pose some real benefits and challenges to smaller jurisdictions. Locally, and wearing my hat as a co-organizer, the Law Society hosted its 3rd bi-annual Intensive Trial Advocacy Program in September. The Program was fully subscribed and, by all accounts, very well received by the students and instructors alike. We had an amazing group of students – with a significant number from Nunavut – and an enthusiastic and skilled group of instructors and judges. Kudos and appreciation go out to so many different people, especially Sarah Kay and Ben Russo, who dedicated countless hours to the organization of the course and materials. We were privileged to again be permitted the use of the court facilities and both the Supreme Court and Territorial Court judges were remarkable with respect to their participation and support for the program. I simply cannot say enough about the support of the judiciary for this course. Finally, also held in September was the President’s Dinner, an event co-hosted by the Law Society and CBA’s NWT Branch. As President of the Law Society, I was honoured to be able to present the inaugural President’s Award to Ian Rennie. Ian has dedicated many hours of volunteer work to the Law Society, to the legal profession and to the public through his work with the Rules Committee, the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, and the many Law Society committees of which he is a member. In his quiet and very unassuming way, his contributions have been legendary. We are in the midst of elections for the Executive of the Law Society and preparing for the AGM in early December. Please ensure that you come out and participate at the meeting. Without the active support and involvement of all members, an independent and functioning law society could not be possible. And, on that note, none of what I do would be possible without the support of the Law Society staff. Our incredibly talented Linda Whitford, who exhausts all of us with her physical energy and institutional history, Ben Russo, who has done so much to make our communications and CLE possible, and our “newbie”, Shannon Hogan, who so pleasantly deals with all of us. Thank you for all that you do for the Executive and the membership.
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ARCTIC OBITER

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