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CORPORATE COUNSEL SECTION REPORT
The Corporate Counsel Section is a Section of the Manitoba Bar Association and is also the Manitoba Chapter of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association.
The Section holds luncheon meetings – approximately once a month – at various locations in downtown Winnipeg, through the generous sponsorship of a number of “host” companies, organizations, and law firms. Guests are lured to speak, on topics of general interest to the members, by promises of a free lunch and a catchy title for their presentation.
Gary Goodwin served as Chair, Dianne Pemkowski served as Vice-Chair and Dean Scaletta served as Secretary. Sandra Swystun and Dean Scaletta served as the Manitoba representatives on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, with Sandra also serving on the Executive as President. A new Executive Director, Silvie Kuppek, and a new Executive Assistant, Kendra Keaney Finnessy, have been hired. Paul Ouellette filled the position of Director of Professional Education.
Sandra Swystun reported that a new and ambitious strategic plan has been developed which includes the launch of a new magazine directed towards Canadian in-house counsel, a new monthly e-newsletter, and enhanced funding to help grow CCCA chapters across the country.
Gary Goodwin solicited program suggestions for the coming year. He invited the host companies to select topics and speakers which were consistent with what the Davies Ward “Corporate Counsel Barometer” survey said corporate counsel want to hear about. He offered to assist the hosts with their topic/speaker selections.
In addition to arranging lunch, members of the host legal staff also selected speaking topics and arranged for the speakers. Several meetings involved over 25 attendees – a testament to the quality of the speakers and the timeliness of the topics selected. During the past year, several luncheon meetings were held and a few of the topics included:
Mr. Leonard Lucas and Mr. Patrick Riley (both with Taylor McCaffrey LLP) made a presentation entitled “Responsibilities in Pension Administration. Can You Ever Really Fulfill Your Duties?” Mr. Lucas spoke on the legal implications of the various common vehicles used to communicate with pension plan members.
CanWest Global Communications Corp hosted Mr. Steve Martens, CA (Deloitte & Touche LLP) who made a presentation entitled “Corporate Governance & Compliance in Today’s Environment “.
Mr. Ken Maclean and Mr. Adrian Frost (both with Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP) made a presentation entitled “Recently Announced Changes to The Workplace Safety and Health Regulations and The Employment Standards Code”.
Agricore United hosted a presentation by James Ripley and Robin Kersey (both with Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP) entitled “Misleading Advertising, Comparative Advertising, Contests and Promotions: How to Avoid Going Directly to Jail “.
Manitoba Telecom Services hosted a presentation by Allan Fineblit, Q.C. (CEO, The Law Society of Manitoba) on: “The Law Society & Corporate Counsel: Insurance, Conflicts, and Privilege (and a whole bunch of other stuff to lose sleep over)”
The annual Corporate Counsel Dinner was held on March 7, 2007. Mr. Frank Palmay (Lang Michener LLP - Toronto) made a presentation entitled: “Hard-Learned Insurance Lessons for In-House Counsel - From Lloyd’s Coffee House to 9/11 to Hollinger”.
Many thanks to all those special people (hosts and speakers) who, once again, said “Yes” this past year.
Gary W. Goodwin
Corporate Counsel/Director of Corporate Services
Ducks Unlimited Canada
T: (204) 467-3214
E: g_goodwin@ducks.ca
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