Legal Community Responsible to Ensure Legacy Will Be Gifts |
 Excerpted from the remarks of the Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, PC, Chief Justice of Canada
"I was admitted to the practice of law sixty or so years after lawyering got going in Alberta. By that time the justice system was a sophisticated complex of professionals - police, lawyers and judges doing very much what police, lawyers and judges do today. But one still heard stories about the older, rougher days. That too was part of the legacy...
Much has changed since I was called to the bar of Alberta in 1968. The County and Supreme Courts were merged and the Appellate Division became the Court of Appeal in 1979, as part of a general reorganization of Alberta Courts. The Magistrates Courts became the Provincial Court of Alberta, and lay and police magistrates were replaced by dedicated judges. Court Houses all over the Province have been built and rebuilt in the ensuing decades.The practice of law has also changed. Firms are bigger, as are hourly rates. Practices are often highly specialized. As the Alberta economy has burgeoned, so law firms have expanded and adjusted to meet the needs of sophisticated business clients.
Which brings me to the second part of tonight's theme - future directions. The Alberta I grew up in was modestly middle-class - reliant on agriculture and a little business, cushioned by measured petroleum revenues which Premier Manning and his Ministers directed to modest improvements like better roads. The Alberta of today, by contrast, is populous and wealthy, driven by a diverse economy.
The Alberta I grew up in was a second-tier, slightly aggrieved, federal partner - |
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complaining about how raw deals on freight rates and the like were impeding progress. The Alberta of today looms large on the Canadian and indeed the world stage - self-reliant and confident.
How has this transformation come about? It wasn't just oil. I like to think that the legacy, not just of natural resources, but of values, had a lot to do with the metamorphosis. An emphasis on individual worth and openness. An attitude of "why not?", instead of "why?". And all grounded in a profound, if unarticulated, understanding that we are all rooted in our communities, and that if they fail, we fail. The legacy of the past is inextricably connected with the direction of the future. Alberta's past made it what it is today. And Alberta's today is already in the process of becoming its past and creating its future.
The legal community bears a special responsibility to ensure that this generation's legacy - the gifts that it passes on to those who come after - will be gifts and not liabilities. The law is the framework that regulates a society and determines the legacy that it leaves. It can be a powerful tool in ensuring that the men and women of our time pass on to future Albertans a land of undiminished beauty and promise, and a society grounded in the values of self-reliance, responsibility, equality and justice.
As the Law Society celebrates its 100th anniversary, it has much to be proud of. In less than a century, the Province has moved from the rough justice of the frontier, to a system of justice that quite literally, is the envy of the world. It stands well-equipped to take on the complex challenges of the future - and let us be frank, challenges there will be. This system of justice is our legacy - passed on to us by those who have gone before. We must cherish it and build on it, for our sake and for the sake of the future."
(To view the full remarks, please visit: www.lawsocietyaberta.com)  | |
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- A maximum of two letters of support for the nomination.
When the nomination is received, the nominee will be contacted to confirm their participation and willingness to accept the award if chosen. All nominations will be considered for two years. Benchers and staff members of the Law Society of Alberta, staff and executive members of the Canadian Bar Association Alberta and members of the judiciary are eligible for nomination one year after their term in office/employment ends. Deadline for nominations:
4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 Award Presentation: The 2008 Distinguished Service Awards will be presented at the Alberta Law Conference on Friday, March 14, 2008 at the Westin Hotel in Calgary. Send nominations to: 2008 Distinguished Service Awards c/o Sheila Serup, Communications Manager Law Society of Alberta 500, 919 – 11th Avenue Calgary AB T2R 1P3 |
