What a difference a Re-think makes!
While normally at this time of year CBA members and staff would be gearing up for a CBA Legal Conference and Council meeting taking place over several days, this year will feature an Annual Meeting to transition to our new governance model – a meeting that will take less than an afternoon.
The business traditionally dealt with by Council will be compressed into a no-nonsense, tightly paced 2 ½-hour meeting at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal on August 17, while some of the ceremonial aspects of the annual conference will shift into the President’s Dinner later that evening.
This year members will be asked to consider just three resolutions, with the first – the new CBA bylaws – being of primary importance (see more about the resolutions elsewhere). The other two, from the Children’s Law Committee and SOGIC, will be addressed if there is time. The new Board of Directors will be looking at other ways to bring resolutions to the membership for consideration, more than just once a year at the Annual Meeting.
The members who will vote on the resolutions will be those present in Montreal, as well as those participating at hubs set up across the country. Each Branch will have at least one hub in a primary location, and some will have several spread out across the province, in branch offices and at law firms who’ve offered their facilities for the occasion.
Scrutineers in each location will make sure that the members in attendance there are eligible to vote.
In recognition of Canada’s 150th birthday, CBA members who attend the Annual Meeting in Montreal this year are also being invited to attend the formal President’s Dinner. We are setting aside 150 seats to be handed out free to members who attended the meeting and would like to come.
All of the meeting materials and other relevant information can be found on the cba.org website.