CBA Staffer Honoured for Decade of Service
The Branch office recently recognized Ruth Fraser’s 10 years of service to the Branch. Ms. Fraser, who is responsible for the Branch Database and Records Management systems, was presented with a certificate and given a dinner for two paddlewheel cruise along the Fraser River.

Since Ms. Fraser joined the CBA staff team in 1989, the Branch support staff has grown from seven to 17. When she first started work, Dial-A-Law was a one-person operation, Lawyer Referral was done manually with the names of lawyers on cards, and the very first issues of The Lawyers Directory and BarTalk were “hot off the presses”.

Of the many changes in the Branch, Ms. Fraser says the biggest is in the sheer volume of services provided in-house as opposed to contracted out. Ms. Fraser says “We give members a lot more now than we used to, and we produce more.” She also notes that in her time at the Branch, the number of Sections served has almost doubled.

Ms. Fraser has many tales of the people and personalities involved in the life of the Branch. “It is a great place to work,” she says. “The comradeship and everything else in the office -- it’s great. It’s like a family.”

On behalf of all the members of the Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch, we thank Ruth Fraser for her years of dedicated service and loyalty to the CBA.


Lawyer in the Community
At age 39, Bill Bennett returned to law school. He and Beth, his wife, left behind their fly fishing business in Northern Manitoba and the Northwest Territories to move to Ontario. Bill grad-uated from Queens in 1992, articled for Larson Baron, and then practiced in Kelowna. In 1994, he joined Steidl, Kambeitz in Cranbrook.

Cranbrook, and in particular the Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce, was waiting for someone just like Bill. Karin Penner, Chamber of Commerce Manager says Bill, “took the Chamber of Commerce to new heights through his leadership.” He also joined the Rotary Club and the Cranbrook and District Chamber of Commerce. In 1997, he was elected president of the Chamber and was re-elected for a second term in 1998. He was chosen as “Businessman of the Year” both years.

Bill has been involved in several projects through the Chamber of Commerce. He acted as a liaison between the City of Cranbrook and the Ministry of Transportation and Highways, when there was a proposed major realignment of Highway 3 through Cranbrook. Another big Cranbrook project is the proposed multi purpose recreation complex. This project had been discussed for a number of years. “The Project Society (a group of volunteers meeting about the new facility for a number of years) and the city were miles apart,” said Karin. “Bill brought them together, which made the city’s referendum possible.” The complex is scheduled for completion in 2000.

Bill is presently Executive at Large of the BC Chamber of Commerce, and is incoming Vice-Chair. John Winter, President of the BC Chamber of Commerce believes that in two years when Bill becomes Chair of the BC Chamber of Commerce “we will have an exemplary professional as chairman of the largest business organization in the province.” If Bill’s work on a provincial level is anything like his work in Cranbrook, BC will have great things to look forward to. “I could never begin--ever, ever--to imagine how many hours that man has spent volunteering for the community,” says Karin.

These articles were published in the April 1999 issue of BarTalk. © 1999 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.