ARCTIC OBITER

6 | ARCTIC OBITER
THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR
From Meetings to Classes
I have spent the last 45 minutes staring at a blank sheet of
paper knowing that my deadline for this column is once
again looming over my head. Why won’t my brain engage?!
Perhaps it is holiday mode.
The term ‚dog days of summer‛ comes to mind as I
contemplate my predicament. I am now in
Kingston after 6 days of CBA Board,
Council and CLC meetings in Niagara Falls.
Today’s temperature hovered around the 25
degree mark and the humidity this morning
made its presence felt.
It has been a very eventful week, beginning
with the loss of my cell phone, somewhere
between Calgary and Toronto. After
surviving the initial realization, I started
making calls – beginning with the lost and
found at the Calgary Airport and then my
family. On the bus to Niagara I used the
phone of a colleague to suspend my service
and began the first 24 hours without my
Linda G. Whitford
ever-present blackberry, grateful that it had been backed up
the day before and trying to remember exactly what was on
it save for a few, yes just a few, photos. To be clear, I was
not totally without a technological advantage as the laptop is
always a companion on business travel. By Thursday
afternoon - $50 in cab fares and the better part of $400 later -
I was back in business, grateful to be able to reach out and
touch the world at will and vice versa. Will the phone ever
turn up? I remain hopeful, but it never hurts to have a spare.
The CBA’s annual Canadian Legal Conference is nothing
short of an endurance event as attendees navigate their way
through the itinerary. Board, Council, Section and Forum
meetings, networking opportunities, and two days of CPD
programming culminate in a luncheon (sponsored by the
Young Lawyers) at which the chain of command is passed to
the 1 st Vice President and a keynote speaker guarantees a
standing room only crowd. This year, Rod Snow of
Whitehorse became the first National CBA President from
north of the 60 th parallel. In taking the position, he said, ‚I
hope to bring a Northern perspective on national issues such
as access to justice and legal aid.‛ You will find a more
complete report on the event in the following pages.
As you all know by now, the offices of the Law Society of the
NWT and the NWT Branch of the Canadian
Bar Association have relocated to the 4 th
floor of the Diamond Plaza, where my
ambitious goal is to navigate the stairs at
least once per day as a form of exercise.
The move was relatively seamless thanks to
the staff. To Ben, Arlene and Stacie, a
sincere thank you for their impressive
contributions. A few small task remain,
but those are on hold pending the arrival of
the equipment and furnishings for the CPD/
CLE space.
At the end of September, and for the very
first time since joining the Law Society in
1996, I will attend a formal professional
development program. The International Institute of Law
Association Chief Executives [ILLACE] is meeting in
Vancouver and the program is ambitious with attendees and
speakers from around the world. Topics include:
Core Values of the Profession;
The growing divide between large and small firms;
A practical approach to strategic planning;
Impact of recession on law societies and bar associations
including challenges of generating alternate revenue
sources;
Communicate or Die;
The CEO and the Board; and
The relationship and effective management structures.
Watch for a report on the proceedings in the next edition.
A Notice of Election and Annual General Meeting will be