Greetings members and colleagues,

I am excited to write to you as the new President of the Calgary Bar Association as we proudly enter our 133rd year.

As many of you know, a key component of our mandate is to promote civility amongst our membership and we have historically done so through a series of traditional events that allow our profession to gather in person in a relaxed collegial environment. In 2022, we were fortunate to resume almost all of these events and were so pleased with the response we received. The long overdue Q.C. Dinner in May sold out in record time and we had our highest attendance rates ever at the Stampede Whoop-Up and Charity Golf Tournament.

Another important part of our mandate is to advance the interests of the legal profession. While our gatherings aim to achieve this, we also put a lot of emphasis on raising funds to donate to certain local charitable organizations. Last year, the organizations benefitting from these efforts included the Drug Treatment Court, Student Legal Assistance, Calgary Legal Guidance, and Pro Bono Law Alberta (among others). These organizations are doing incredible work within our community and we look forward to continuing our support in 2023.

As always, we have had a few changes in our executive. Gord Sterchi, KC has assumed the coveted Past-President role and we have happily welcomed Laura Coward as our Junior Member. Our new executive for 2022/23 is as follows:

Jody Sutherland, President
Aaron Bickman, Vice President
Adriano Iovinelli KC, Treasurer
Melanie Gaston, Secretary
Zailin Lakhoo, Senior Member
Laura Gill, Middle Member
Laura Coward, Junior Member

Our executive has already been hard at work for the year ahead and we are pleased to share the latest news about our upcoming events for 2023:

JUDGES’ DINNER – On March 16, 2023 we will finally get to honour a slate of “recent” judicial appointments. Our last dinner took place in March 2019, which means we have many appointments to catch up on. Tickets are already sold out and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at this event. A friendly reminder that you have to be a Calgary Bar Association member to attend this dinner (and all of our events).

CLAY SHOOT - The Calgary Bar Association Clay Shoot gained its official annual status, with its second showing in 2022. We will be hosting this event again on June 23, 2023 at Silver Willow Sporting Club. Please keep an eye open for updates on registration information, which we anticipate will start in early spring. No equipment or experience is required to participate.

STAMPEDE WHOOP-UP – This popular annual event will return on July 11, 2023 from 3 -7 pm. After the success of last years Whoop-Up, we are sticking to what works best and are pleased to have secured the National on 10th Avenue as our venue again. Plan to take advantage of the air conditioning in the bowling alley or fresh air from the patio and mingle with a thousand or so of your colleagues from around the City. Watch out for the CBA executive in their pink Western shirts!

CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT – For another consecutive year we are able to say that our 2022 Annual Charity Golf Tournament was our most successful tournament to date. The 2023 tournament will again be hosted at the lovely Banff Springs Golf Course on September 8, 2023. Stay tuned for registration information and act fast, as this event always sells out early.

K.C. DINNER – We are excited to celebrate all those that received a K.C. designation in 2022 with our first ever (in recent memory) “K.C. Dinner” being held on September 21, 2023 at the Hyatt. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Most of you should now be accustomed to the fact that aside from our annual President Letter mail out, we rely on electronic methods to keep our current membership informed on the events listed above. Please visit our website often at www.calgarybarassociation.com for updates on these activities, and have your spam filters monitored or set accordingly so that you receive our regular email notifications.

Lastly, please visit our website to purchase your 2023 membership online. Thank you for your continued support. We are truly looking forward to the year ahead, and bringing you the opportunities for collegiality and celebration that you have come to count on us for.

Sincerely,

Jody Sutherland
President
Calgary Bar Association