Press Releases & Statements

The Canadian Bar Association is pleased to announce that John Stefaniuk, the CBA Board member from Manitoba, has been elected to the position of Vice President for 2022-2023.

Ottawa, February 7, 2022 - Each year at its Annual General Meeting the Canadian Bar Association honours members of the legal profession whose contributions to the Association, the legal profession and the justice system mark them out as deserving of special recognition.

Johanne C. Bray Q.C. has been appointed to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Bar Association, effective February 7, 2022.

To mark Human Rights Day today, the Canadian Bar Association introduced a comprehensive new guide to advise Canadian lawyers of the increasing importance and prevalence of Business and Human Rights Law in the country and globally. The CBA Business and Human Rights Guide is designed to help lawyers incorporate more BHR Law to their legal practice.

The Canadian Bar Association welcomes the re-appointment of The Honourable David Lametti as Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

On October 7th, the Canadian Bar Association sent an email to all its members to promote its Well-Being Hour.

Stephen Rotstein, President of the Canadian Bar Association wishes to extend his condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Julia Ferguson who was attacked and stabbed while at work at a Toronto law firm on September 2. She has since succumbed to her injuries.

Stephen Rotstein of Toronto begins his year-long tenure as President of the Canadian Bar Association today, taking the helm of the 125-year-old Association of over 36,000 lawyers, notaries, law teachers and law students across Canada. He succeeds Bradley D. Regehr, the first Indigenous person to serve as CBA President. Steeves Bujold of Montreal begins his term as Vice-President.

The Canadian Bar Association is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban take control of the country. The fundamental human rights of all Afghans – particularly women, girls and LGBTQI+ populations – are at risk.

Last year my predecessor as Canadian Bar Association president, Vivene Salmon, marked Emancipation Day by asking lawyers to “reflect on how the law was complicit in upholding slavery, and to think critically about how the legacy of slavery lingers in our legal, social and economic systems.”