ARCTIC OBITER

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2011 | 5
THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR
Elections, AGM, Scams and Wellbeing
ELECTIONS
On the 20 th of September 2011, I signed a Notice of Election and
Annual General Meeting which was posted on the website and
sent to all active members. As a result, three nominations have
been received and ballot packages will be sent to all members
this week.
Last year it was suggested that we provide
further information on our candidates as
many are new to the jurisdiction and not all
non-resident members are familiar with the
candidates. You can expect to receive this
information the second week of November.
Ballots are due back in the offices of the Law
Society by noon on Friday, December 2 nd ,
2011.
AGM
The 34 th Annual General Meeting of the Law
Society of the Northwest Territories will take
place on Saturday, December 3rd, 2011,
commencing at 9:00 AM in the Champagne Linda G. Whitford
Room, (2nd Floor) 5004 – 50th Avenue,
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The Agenda will include
the minutes of the 2010 meeting, the audited financial statement
for the year ending December 31, 2010 and reports from all of
the Committees and Law Society appointees to external
committees. Those of you in attendance at the 2010 meeting will
remember that we had a motion requesting that the Rules
Committee prepare a revision of the Rules of the Law Society
for consideration of the Members in either 2011 or 2012. The
first review has been completed and a number of revisions
recommended. Motions to adopt these revisions will be
brought forward to the AGM. This will pave the way for the
completion of the revision in 2012 with adoption at either the
2012 AGM or at an earlier SGM if that is deemed more
appropriate. A copy of the review can be found on the website.
Once again, the complete AGENDA will be posted online with a
limited number of copies available at the meeting.
The annual Christmas Dinner and Dance will be held that
evening, once again at the Champagne Room. Watch for details
in the weekly bulletin.
SCAMS
Every day we receive email scams from persons looking to
retain the services of a lawyer with regards to a divorce
settlement, debt collection, business loan agreement and more.
While the majority of it is marked as “spam” (along with those
pesky account verification e-mails), some still
look pretty convincing. Don’t be fooled.
Practice Pro has the Avoid a Claim blog to
help lawyers avoid legal malpractice claims.
You can also find information from the RCMP
website.
WELLBEING
The time between now and the holiday season
always seems to fly by, although I admit that I
am not sure where this whole year has gone.
That freshly fallen snow must certainly be a
figment of my imagination... Regardless, it is
a busy time — both personally and
professionally — as we prepare to conclude
one year and start a new one. Unfortunately,
this potentially stressful time is also marked
on our calendars as the flu season. Homewood
Human Solutions, our Lawyers’ Assistance Program providers,
has published their Tips for Staying Well At Work to celebrate
Canada’s Healthy Workplaces Month. They’ve also published
their Flu Prevention Tips.
Flu clinics are also being held this week in Yellowknife. We
live in a transient environment – protect yourself against
influenza.
I will also close by offering condolences to the aviation
community and, more specifically, to the family and friends of
those lost in the First Air, Arctic Sunwest and Air Tindi plane
crashes. Aviation is a way of life in the North and, in some
cases, the only mode of transportation available when it comes
to taking the Court to the people. Mikey McBryan of Buffalo
Airways said it best when he said, “No matter what color your
birds are, we all fly the same sky. Respect to the Fallen.” I
would also add thanks to the first responders and those who,
without thought for personal safety, did whatever was
necessary to help out.