Letter from the President, Bud Melnyk, KC
It has only been a couple of weeks since I’ve stepped into the role as President of the Law Society of Alberta. I’m both humbled and pleased to be entrusted with this important responsibility, and I will do my best to keep the public and profession updated, including letters like this on issues of importance.
The Law Society of Alberta is a regulator. Our job is to protect and advance the public interest within our statutory jurisdiction — the legal profession. In this capacity, we are not an advocacy body; however, like other legal stakeholders, we share the same commitment to the Rule of Law and independence of the judiciary.
I’d like to briefly touch upon these timely topics before getting to the focal point of today’s letter. Alongside law societies across Canada, we have launched Ours to Protect, a national campaign to raise awareness about the importance of the Rule of Law and to unite Canadians around the shared values of democracy and justice. Earlier this year we also expressed our strong support for the Statement from the Chief Justices of Alberta Courts and the importance of an independent judiciary that, alongside Alberta’s lawyers, works daily to safeguard the rights and freedoms of everyone in Alberta while ensuring the sanctity of the Rule of Law.
What I really want to focus on today is responding to the questions I’ve received in the early days of my presidency related to the current and future state of the Alberta Law Foundation (ALF) and the Law Society’s involvement.