ARCTIC OBITER

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6 | <strong>ARCTIC</strong> <strong>OBITER</strong> ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Meeting draws focus on Professional Development, Territorial Mobility and Lawyer Retention SUMMARY On the morning of December 5th, members gathered at the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife for the 32nd Annual General Meeting. The meeting was smooth and well-paced, ending after only one hour. In a room of about 30 attendees, the meeting was called to order at 9:05am by President Karen Lajoie. First on the agenda was the introduction of Erin Delaney and Sheila MacPherson to the 2009 –2010 Executive Committee. The minutes from 2008 were then approved with no further business addressed. After the reports from the President, Treasurer, Auditor, Executive Director and Communications Coordinator, Rules Committee Chair Sarah Kay discussed the resolutions—a total of four amendments to the Rules—that were then carried with no issue. Linda Whitford then indicated important changes to t h e Janice Walsh smiles at comments made by Sarah Kay and her report on the CPDCommittee. C a n L I I infrastructure in her report. This was followed by the reports of the following c o m m i t t e e s : Admissions, Civility Task Force, Continuing P r o f e s s i o n a l Development, Library, Court Discipline, Insurance, Legal Ethics & Practice, Recruitment and Retention, Rules and Social. Reports were also submitted by the Legal Services Board and the NWT Law Foundation. Louis Sebert presented his report from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, after which the AGM was adjourned. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Continued from the last AGM is the implementation of mandatory Continued Development. Professional Last year, members were required to submit a CPD plan to indicate their areas of practice, what their personal CPD goals were, and in what ways they were able to achieve those goals. The Society collected this i n f o r m a t i o n w i t h membership renewals and Leanne Dragon, Karen Lajoie and Michael Hansen listen to business from the floor. shared it with the CPD Committee. The information the Society received was and is a key aid for planning and developing future Legal Education events relevant to members. New this year is the CPD report, which will be sent out with the upcoming membership documents. renewal This report will be compared with last year’s plans to monitor members’ developments and areas of study. It will also help the Society in identifying strengths and weaknesses with the delivery of Louis Sebert makes comments on his report on the Federation
DECEMBER 2009 | 7 Educational seminars and materials. After presenting a jurisdictional survey on Mandatory CPD (including the consequences of failing to meet the CPD requirements), Sarah Kay informed members that the committee is now undertaking to establish and recommend a protocol for failing to meet Mandatory CPD standards in the Northwest Territories. Kay stressed that input from the membership over the next few months will be a valuable asset as t h e y p r o c e e d w i t h t h e i r recommendations. TERRITORIAL MOBILITY The Territorial Mobility Agreement (TMA) is quickly approaching its termination on December 31, 2011. There are two more years left on this 5 -year agreement in which the three territories must decide and negotiate with other jurisdictions on the limited options at hand. Does the Law Society of the Northwest Territories sign on to the National Mobility Agreement, find an alternative solution, or simply return to pre- NMA days? strong pull for national s t a n d a r d s . A l l j u r i s d i c t i o n s a r e expressing favour in the d e v e l o p m e n t o f standards under the N a t i o n a l M o b i l i t y Agreement. In their sentiments, neighboring jurisdictions emphasize that a national standard for governance would instill further confidence from the public. Cayley Thomas paraphrases her report on the Legal Ethics and Practice Committee Northwest Territories was also A suggestion was made to strike a addressed throughout the meeting. committee to focus on a solution for to Some suggested that a link between the TMA and its ever-approaching the proposed Territorial Mobility deadline. The issue will ultimately be Committee and the Recruitment and a principal topic for the Executive to Retention Committee could better address through the next year. both committees in their respective LAWYER RETENTION mandates. The retention of lawyers in the Louis Sebert, council member of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, indicated that there is a NOTE: The next Annual General Meeting will be held on December 4, 2010. THE 2008 LAW SOCIETY EXECUTIVE [from Left]: Linda Whitford, Karen Lajoie, Leanne Dragon, Maureen Crotty-Williams, Shirley Walsh and Michael Hansen.
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ARCTIC OBITER

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