Long-time member Bill Veenstra has been named as president of the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch(CBABC).
Veenstra, who will serve for the 2017-2018 term, has previously held a number of roles within the association, including vice-president, secretary treasurer, elected member of the governing provincial council, legislation and law reform committee member and chair of the national civil litigation section.
Currently, he practises commercial, civil and construction litigation with Jenkins Marzban Logan LLP in Vancouver.
Veenstra has a number of goals for the CBABC.
Bill Veenstra
"One of my key priorities as president is to work to improve access to justice for all British Columbians," said Veenstra.
"We'll continue advocating for the issues raised last February with the release of our platform paper An Agenda for Justice. We identified a number of areas for improvement and recommended actions including an increase in funding for legal aid and court services, improved services in family justice and a renewed focus on restorative justice in B.C. It'll be a pleasure to work on these issues with our new provincial government and our many committed volunteers and colleagues across the justice sector."
He also wants to improve the value members receive for being part of the CBABC.
"As an organization, CBABC needs to ensure our programs and services provide both a community for our members, and resources to help them become better lawyers. I look forward to collaborating with our executive committee, our hundreds of volunteers and our excellent staff on the support and opportunities CBABC provides to its members."
