The Tenth Annual Conference of the Canadian College of Construction Lawyers was held at the Predator Ridge Golf Resort in Vernon, British Columbia on May 31 – June 3, 2007. The theme of the Conference was:

“A Perfect 10! Celebrating our First Decade of Development”.

Guest speakers included The Honourable Chief Justice Donald I. Brenner of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, The Honourable Mr. Justice Allan D. McLeod, Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, John W. Hinchey, President Elect of the American College of Construction Lawyers, Frank Margitan of Peter Kiewit Sons Co., The Honourable Chief Justice Colin L. Campbell Superior Court of Justice (Ontario), Matthew D. Nelson, Legal Counsel, Knoll Ontrack, Douglas S. Jones of Clayton Utz, Sydney, Australia, Dan Doyle, Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and Carl Stewart, President, Dominion Fairmile Construction.
The College is comprised of a small group of nominated senior lawyers (“Fellows”) from across Canada, who have highly distinguished and reputed practices in construction law. According to its by-laws, the purpose of the College is to:

“facilitate and encourage the association of outstanding lawyers who are distinguished for their skill, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice or teaching of construction law and who are dedicated to excellence in the specialized practice of construction law.”

Prominent content themes of the conference included the role of expert witnesses, the discovery of electronic documents and the Olympic experience. The revised format introduced at the ninth annual conference was maintained involving a series of guest speakers on the Friday morning session, followed by breaking out into small groups for further meaningful discussion of the issues raised by the presentations.

The Fellows and their spouses were entertained under the stars at a beautiful dinner hosted at the Mission Hill Winery on the Friday evening. The Gala Dinner and Introduction of New Fellows was held on the Saturday evening in the dining room of the Predator Ridge Golf Resort. The after dinner speaker was Beckie Scott, three time Olympic competitor in women’s cross-country skiing and winner of the gold medal in 2002 and the silver medal in 2006 who proved to be lively, entertaining and truly inspirational.

Throughout the conference and in the spirit of celebrating the first ten years since the inception of the College, congeniality and co-operation amongst the Fellows from across Canada was another consistent theme.

The Canadian College of Construction Lawyers is pleased to announce that Anna Esposito of Toronto, Ontario, Lowell Westersund Q.C. of Calgary, Alberta and Dominique Zaurrini of Laval, Quebec were inducted as Fellows at the Tenth Annual Conference. In addition, Douglas S. Jones of Sydney, Australia was inducted as an Honourary Fellow.

The Canadian College of Construction Lawyers is further pleased to announce that the following Officers were elected at the Tenth Annual Conference:

President: Jean van der Lee, Q.C.
Field LLP
(Calgary, Alberta)

Immediate Past President: George W. MacDonald, Q.C.
McInnes, Cooper
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Vice-President: Daniel Ayotte
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
(Montreal, Quebec)

Secretary: William L. (Mick) Ryan, Q.C. (1 year term)
Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales
(Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Treasurer: W. Andrew McLauchlin
(2 year term)
McLauchlin & Associates,
(Toronto, Ontario)

Program Co-Ordinator: Robert Jenkins, Q.C.,
Jenkins Marzban Logan
(Vancouver, British Columbia)

The Board of Governors of the College includes the Officers listed above, as well as:

Louis-Michel Tremblay
Miller Thomson Pouliot
(Montreal, Quebec)

Sandor J. Klein
DeGrandpre Chait
(Montreal, Quebec)

Derek A. Brindle Q.C.
Singleton Urquhart
(Vancouver, British Columbia)

Kenneth B. McCullogh, Q.C.
Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales
(Saint John, New Brunswick)

Howard M. Wise
Goodmans LLP
(Toronto, Ontario)

David I. Marr
Campbell, Marr LLP
(Winnipeg, Manitoba)

The following Past Presidents of the College are also ex-officio members of the Board of Governors:

Harvey J. Kirsh
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (Toronto)
(President, 1997 – 1999)

D. Robert Beaumont
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP (Toronto)
(President, 1999 – 2000)

David H. Kauffman
De Grandpré Chait (Montreal)
(President, 2000 – 2001)

J. Stephen Tatrallyay
(Toronto)
(President, 2001 – 2002)

R. Bruce Reynolds
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (Toronto)
(President, 2002 – 2003)

Helmut K. Johannsen
Fasken Martineau DeMoulin LLP (Vancouver)
(President, 2003 – 2004)

Stanley Naftolin, Q.C.
Goldman Sloan Nash & Haber, LLP (Toronto)
(President, 2004 – 2005)

Duncan W. Glaholt
Glaholt LLP Barristers & Solicitors (Toronto)
(President, 2005 – 2006)

George W. MacDonald, Q.C.
McInnes Cooper (Halifax)
(President, 2006 – 2007)