New CBA prez applauds volunteers
Ernst will encourage management to recognize positive impact of giving back to profession
FOCUS
CBA Conference Halifax 2011
CRISTIN SCHMITZ
worked two jobs so his wife could
focus on their children.
NEW PRESIDENT!
“Work hard. Respect other people.
And give back,” were the values her
parents passed on, Ernst says.
She comes from vigorous stock.
Ernst’s grandfather, who had 11 children, lived to 107 and died in his own
home — with his wits intact.
FOCUS
“When he was 105 he got up one
morning and
and he said,…
Halifax 2011
onions at my age,’”
Ernst remembers.
“He was a hoot. And
he loved to watch TV
and learn things. He
said you can learn a
lot from television.”
PHOTO BY PAUL DARROW
Elizabeth May and Liberal MP Geoff
Regan. “The Weldon [Dalhousie’s
first law dean] tradition was one of
public service, and politics comes to
mind as the highest form of public
service,” says Ernst, who states that
politically she is not currently a
“card-carrying anything.”
Education was a
core value of the
Ernst grew up in a basement apart-
ment in Halifax, the eldest of three
children of a Sears deliveryman who
“He said: ‘Get an education. You can
be anything you want, if you get an
See President Page 14
CBA Conference
As a solicitor and avid community
contributor, helping people is what
makes Trinda Ernst tick.
So it’s no surprise that the Can-
adian Bar Association (CBA)’s new
president is making it her business
to highlight the heroic—but often
make
“We want to shine the spotlight on
the work that lawyers are doing in the
community,” Ernst says. “When I go to
my [CBA] branch visits, through
interviews I will promote the work
that lawyers do and hope that some-
body picks up a good news story.”
“It’s perhaps an old-fashioned
approach of writing thank you letters,
but we have a lot of members who are
in-house counsel, or who are employed
by other organizations, and their man-
agement needs to know that giving
back to the profession is making an
New CBA
president Trinda
Ernst enjoys
singing and
performs with
a barbershop
chorus.
impact,” Ernst explains.
The 52-year-old Halifax solicitor,
who since 1985 has practised with
the 12-lawyer firm Waterbury Newton, is an enthusiastic volunteer
with Girl Guides and Rotary. She
loves singing and performs with a
barbershop chorus.
She graduated from Dalhousie
University, where law school classmates included Green Party leader
CBA council to debate class action management
Council will also examine
expansion of Tax Court’s
exclusive jurisdiction
CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA
Controversy over whether it
would be constitutional to
designate a single judge to case
manage a multi-jurisdictional
class action is delaying the Canadian Bar Association (CBA)’s
rollout of its eagerly anticipated
model judicial protocol for managing these actions.
However, less contentious
aspects of the draft class action
protocol will be presented for
approval to the CBA’s annual
council meeting Aug. 13, as will
14 other resolutions dealing with
issues such as expanding the Tax
Court’s exclusive jurisdiction
and protecting RRSPs and
RRIFs from creditors.
