As we transition from summer to autumn and I assume the role of President of CBA-NB, I would like to thank Ann Whiteway-Brown, Q.C. for her capable leadership during an exceptionally busy past year. Ann’s careful attention and balanced approach played a central role in the success of the all-encompassing CBA Re-think initiative. I would also be remiss if I did not thank Deloras O’Neill for her many contributions to CBA-NB. As Ann becomes Past President, Deloras leaves our Executive. Deloras’ contributions are too numerous to list and her commitment to CBA-NB, like Ann’s, has been truly outstanding. It’s been a pleasure to work with both of these exceptional professionals and dedicated CBA-ers.
On another note, this year marks the first in a generation that a New Brunswicker has assumed the role of National President of the CBA and, with that, comes a historic milestone as René Basque, Q.C. is the first Acadian to take on this responsibility. Congratulations René!
Now that the recommendations arising from the CBA Re-think initiative have been adopted, my year as President of CBA-NB will focus on the transitional elements of this initiative. For those who don’t know, CBA Re-think was a bold undertaking focused on ensuring the continued relevance and strength of our organization. It left no stone unturned and critically evaluated what we do well, what we can do better and what we shouldn’t be doing at all. CBA Re-think has produced a strong foundation for the future success and vitality of the CBA. It was a very involved exercise and one individual who merits special mention is CBA-NB’s Executive Director, Denise Cameron-Scott. Denise was a key member of the integration team for CBA Re-think, which was tasked with sifting through a massive amount of data and refining a series of draft proposals into a workable set of recommendations that has put us on a course to achieve the stated objectives of this initiative. Denise took on this responsibility over and above her responsibilities with CBA-NB, which meant a lot of extra work and a lot of time away from her family. We are very grateful to Denise for having stepped up to take this on.
One of the outgrowths of CBA Re-think is CBA CONNECT, a program that connects young lawyers and law students with the people, events, knowledge, skills and tools they need to enjoy a fulfilling career - from their first day of law school through their entire career as lawyers. A key element of CBA CONNECT is fostering mentorship opportunities for current law students. I believe that the students at both the Université de Moncton Faculté de Droit and the University of New Brunswick Law School will benefit greatly from CBA CONNECT and I intend to make its successful introduction a priority during my term as President. Stay tuned and be ready to volunteer!
As the leading provider of continuing legal education in New Brunswick, CBA-NB has an excellent line-up of fall programming and planning is well underway for Mid-Winter 2017 under the leadership of our Vice President, Tina Legacé-Rivard. Visit our website and be sure to check out email updates for our timely, high quality programming.
In a nutshell, we have a busy and exciting year in store at CBA-NB and we look forward to serving and representing you over the course of the next 12 months!
Pictured from left to right: CBA-NB President Scott Brittain, Deloras O'Neill, and CBA-NB Past President Ann Whiteway-Brown, Q.C.