The Canadian Bar Association’s annual legal conference and expo is almost over: since Sunday, CBA members have been mixing and mingling in Quebec City at the annual Canadian Legal Conference. On top of the usual personal and professional betterment sessions — Practice management! How to negotiate! Navigate this crazy new ‘information superhighway’ we keep hearing about! — there are also always opportunities for wholesome tourist activities like whale watching, maple syrup making, and the dreaded golf tournament. Plus receptions hosted by firms where you can cadge free drink, of course.
American novelist Maya Angelou (seen at right) was the keynote speaker on Sunday night, talking about human rights and justice, and National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine addressed the crowd this morning. David Bilinsky at Slaw was unimpressed, however, with former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s performance at breakfast yesterday, where the Little Guy From Shawinigan apparently rambled pointlessly about Allan Fotheringham and rehashed various other political rivalries of his glory days. Bilinsky pulls no punches: “At a time when there are calls for increased civility amongst lawyers I was hoping for an example of leadership and statesmanship from our ex-Prime Minister. I left appalled.” Should have taken that whale-watching tour instead, perhaps?