ACCESS AND INDEPENDENCE:
RESTORING THE BALANCE IN ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNALS AND LABOUR BOARDS

November 20 - 21, 2009
Fairmont Château Laurier Hotel, Ottawa, Ont.

“Access to justice” – it’s the catchy phrase that’s popping up everywhere. Governments, the courts, and bar associations all talk about it, but they are short on details. How do we balance access without sacrificing due process and independence, and what are we supposed to do with self-represented parties? If anyone has the answers to these hard questions, it’s the speakers who will appear at this year’s Canadian Bar Association annual conference on administrative law and labour and employment law.

The conference is the premier continuing legal education event for practitioners, tribunal members, and judges. This year’s line-up of participants include recently retired Supreme Court of Canada judge the Hon. Michel Bastarache, who will deliver the keynote address, Madam Justice Rosalie Abella, of the Supreme Court, and leading experts David Phillip Jones, Q.C. and Steven Barrett.
Following the format that lawyers and other attendees have most approved over the past years, this dynamic duo will open the conference with a survey of recent developments in the law, which alone is worth the registration fee.

Other plenary sessions and workshops will cover both thought-provoking themes and more down-to-earth discussions focused on providing practical answers to pressing problems. And since access and independence must be ensured even in the most extreme of circumstances, you won’t want to miss our fascinating round-table on “secret tribunals”, with a unique group of panellists that will give you the view “from the trenches”: Mr. Justice Simon Noël, a judge of the Federal Court of Canada who hears cases involving issues of national security, immigration and refugee law practitioner Barbara Jackman, Q.C., Omar Khadr’s Canadian attorney, Nathan Whitling, as well as Keith Wilkins, coordinator of the Special Advocates Program at Justice Canada.

This year’s conference will close, as usual, with the Judges’ Forum, a frank and free-flowing discussion on the issues and concerns that underlie administrative law and labour and employment law. Drawn from across the country, the panel of judges, moderated by Justice Abella, will include Mr Justice Jacques Dufresne (Quebec Court of Appeal), Mr Justice Robert Richards (Saskatchewan Court of Appeal), and Senior Judge Ronald S. Veale (Yukon Supreme Court).

If you work or practice in the fields of administrative law or labour and employment law, this CBA conference is the leading continuing education program for you, promising relevant and practical insights that will immediately make you more effective.

The Program Brochure and Registration Form are now available.

Please contact the Fairmont Chateau Laurier directly at 1-800-441-1414 and mention the promotional code CBAOCT to obtain the preferred rate.  Alternatively, you can make your reservation on-line at https://resweb.passkey.com/go/cbalawlabour.  The preferred room rate is available until Monday, October 19, 2009.

Presented by the National Administrative Law Section, the National Labour and Employment Law Section, and the Continuing Legal Education Committee.