On Wednesday, April 16, MacLean Law had the pleasure of hosting an intimate reception for the Honorable Suzanne Anton, Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of BC.
Lorne MacLean, Q.C. founder of MacLean Law, opened up the evening with a fitting quote from Rosalynn Carter to describe Ms. Anton’s leadership in her role as Minister of Justice: “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.”
“Under [Minister Anton’s] leadership, we now have a new Family Law Act that empowers British Columbians to reach settlement of their family disputes through a new emphasis on mediation, negotiation, and arbitration as viable alternatives to our court system,” Mr. MacLean told the group of 50 in attendance. MacLean senior lawyers, Audra Bayer, Nick Davies and Shelagh Kinney all have unique skill sets in these alternatives to litigation in Family Law.
In addition to introducing the new Family Law during her tenure, the Minister of Justice has also boldly begun a focused dialogue aimed at stopping distracted drivers from causing carnage on our roads. This most recent initiative is near and dear for MacLean Law, as we have led our own distracted driving campaign over the last 18 months through our personal injury and motor vehicle accident department.
During the reception, the Attorney General reported on various initiatives underway in the Justice department and took an informal poll of the attendees’ tolerance for distracted driving and current fines. Hands down, the majority wanted to see an increase in fines and ICBC penalty points for those who cause motor vehicle accidents due to distracted driving.
Before the gracious Attorney General posed for photos, Lorne MacLean closed the evening with the supposition that, “I’m confident we can look forward to more legal innovation under Ms. Anton’s indefatigable guidance.”
A special thank you to Sumit Ahuja, of MacLean Law for bringing both the Attorney General and the Honorable Amrik Virk, Minister of Advanced Education to speak to our group of family, friends and business colleagues. Thank you to the Honorable Suzanne Anton and to the dedicated staffers Barinder Bhullar, Evan Southern, and Jarett Lalonde, for an interesting and informative evening.
