OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 1, 2022 /CNW/ - Steeves Bujold of Montreal begins his year-long tenure as the 94th President of the Canadian Bar Association today, taking the helm of the 126-year-old Association of more than 37,000 lawyers, notaries, law professors and law students across Canada. He succeeds Stephen Rotstein of Toronto. John Stefaniuk of Winnipeg begins his term as Vice-President.
Called to the Barreau du Québec in 1999, Mr. Bujold is a partner and Quebec Region Litigation Practice Leader with McCarthy Tétrault in Montreal. At his firm, he is also Chair of the Pride Action Group and Member of the Diversity and inclusion Council. He has been an active member of the CBA since 2001 and a member of the CBA Board of Directors since September 2019. He chaired the CBA CEO Selection Committee, the Policy Committee, the Governance & Equality Committee and the Equality Subcommittee. Mr. Bujold is the first CBA President with a same-sex partner.
The CBA Board of Directors also welcomes new members: Ken Armstrong Q.C. of British Columbia, Carley Parish Q.C. of New Brunswick, Tuma Young Q.C. of Nova Scotia, Tom Ullyett of Yukon, Kelly McLaughlin of the Northwest Territories, Greg Lyndon of Nunavut, Jordan Brown of Prince Edward Island and Audrey Boctor of Quebec. They join Board members who are entering the second year of their two-year terms: Steven J.R. Seiferling of Saskatchewan, Melanie Del Rizzo Q.C. of Newfoundland and Labrador, Lynne M. J. Vicars of Ontario and Mike R. McKinney Q.C. of Alberta.
The advocacy priority for the new Board is equal access to justice, with a focus on adequate resources to serve legal needs, innovations to improve justice systems, and measures to end systemic discrimination and ensure diversity and inclusion in the legal/justice system.
"For more than a century, our Association has been the voice of the legal profession, at home and abroad. It has been a defender of the rule of law and of judicial independence, a strong advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, and a progressive actor in the promotion of human rights. My two personal priorities will be, first, to ensure that judicial independence, an essential pillar of our democracy, is better understood, protected and valued and, second, to work on improving diversity within the legal community including addressing the needs of the members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, in particular non-binary and trans people.
"It is with honour, pride and humility that I undertake the presidency of our Association, and I look forward to all the work we can accomplish in the year to come."
- CBA President Steeves Bujold
The Canadian Bar Association
CBA's Board of Directors
The CBA is dedicated to support the rule of law and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, notaries in Quebec, law teachers and law students from across Canada are members.
SOURCE Canadian Bar Association
Vanessa Racine, Manager, Media Relations and Public Affairs, 613-237-2925 x153, [email protected]
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