Ottawa, June 5, 2024 - Each year, the Canadian Bar Association honours members of the legal profession whose contributions to the Association, the legal profession and the justice system single them out as deserving of special recognition.
Here are the 2024 CBA Awards of Excellence honorees:
The Honourable Rosalie Silberman Abella is this year’s recipient of the President’s award, presented by CBA President John Stefaniuk, K.C. As a refugee and the first Jewish woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada and an international expert on human rights recognized worldwide, she personifies the attributes of the award. Her crucial contributions to the development of the concepts of equality and discrimination informed the Supreme Court’s first decision on equality rights under the Charter of Rights of Rights and Freedoms in 1989.
Afifa Hashimi is an associate lawyer at Moore Edgar Lyster LLP. She is also currently co-chair of the Human Rights Law Section at CBA-BC, and a member of the CBA Constitutional and Human Rights Law National Section Executive. After being called to bar, she quickly became one of British Columbia's best known human rights lawyers and has an impressive list of organizations and initiatives whose growth she has helped facilitate and support.
Naiomi Metallic is an Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, where she holds the Chancellor’s Chair in Aboriginal Law and Policy. She has significantly developed the Schulich School of Laws' offerings in Aboriginal and Indigenous law over the last eight years. Her work has often been cited by Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada.
The CBA’s highest award recognizes a lifetime of outstanding service. This year’s award is given to Melanie Bueckert. In her role as Legal Research Counsel for the Manitoba Court of Appeal, she has been conducting legal research on a wide variety of issues including criminal law, administrative law, and civil procedure. She has made many remarkable contributions to legal education as an instructor at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law, and as a presenter and author. She has also served as Chair of the Manitoba Bar Association’s Legislation and Law Reform Committee since 2007.
The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society is a diverse coalition of Asian Canadian legal professionals working to promote equity, justice, and opportunity for Asian Canadian legal professionals and the wider community. The organization is being recognized for its excellent work advancing equality in the legal profession, particularly on issues related to race, gender and sexual orientation, and for its impactful award-winning documentary, But I Look Like a Lawyer.
The Jack Innes Award recognizes outstanding contribution to the CBA by a current staff member who has exhibited creativity, innovation, leadership and commitment. This year’s award is given to Carolyn Lefebvre. As the Senior Director of Membership, Engagement & Strategy at CBA-BC, she has introduced new processes to improve the CBA’s teamwork, monetary and time efficiency, member support, and accountability both at the BC branch and for the benefit of CBA has a whole.
About the Canadian Bar Association
The CBA is dedicated to support the rule of law and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 38,000 lawyers, judges, notaries in Quebec, law teachers and law students from across Canada are members.
For more information, contact:
Vanessa Racine
Manager, Media Relations and Public Affairs
613-237-2925 x153
vanessar@cba.org