Past Conferences Synopses
CCAT's 21st Annual Conference
- June 2005
Administrative Justice in the
Modern Canadian Mosaic
The Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals held its 21st
Annual Conference from June 19 to 21, 2005 at the Ottawa Congress
Centre, in Ottawa, Ontario.
The conference was attended by delegates from throughout Canada
and from several foreign countries. More than 270 delegates were
registered for the Conference and came to hear some 50 speakers
make presentations on subject of interest to administrative justice
practitioners.
The Conference began on the afternoon of June 19th with
an opening session entitled The Modern Canadian Mosaic: Changing
Demographics. It was followed by the plenary session Reconciliation
and Renewal: Incorporating Aboriginal Perspectives into Administrative
Justice featuring John Borrows, Professor of Law and Chair of Aboriginal
Justice and Governance, University of Victoria. The focus of this
plenary was aboriginal legal traditions and decision making in administrative
justice as well as the broader social and historical context.
Following the plenary, there were five concurrent tribunal sector
round tables focusing on: workers' compensation; human rights; labour
relations; regulation of energy, environment and resources; and
regulation of professions. These round tables enabled members, staff
and chairs of tribunals to share information with each other and
to discuss current issues and trends affecting their tribunals.
The afternoon ended with the President's reception on the Terrace
at the Ottawa Congress Centre.
Monday, June 20th commenced with a plenary session
entitled Diversity: Have Adjudicators and Regulators Adapted to
New Realities? Following the break, there were several concurrent
workshops: Diversity in Appointments; Tribunal Records–Open
or Shut? Administrative Law Update; and Literacy and Access to Justice:
The Invisible and Silent Barrier.
At the luncheon, Robert Owen, Chair of CCAT's Public Outreach Committee,
officially presented Ms. Susan Haslip the Marie-Paule-Scott Commemorative
Scholarship for the academic year 2004-2005. For more information,
please see: http://www.ccat-ctac.org/en/news/article.php?id=80.
The Annual General Meeting of CCAT members and the election of
members to the Board of Directors followed. Please see: http://www.ccat-ctac.org/en/about/board.php.
In the afternoon, there were two rounds of workshops. One workshop-Assessing
Credibility: Credit Model of Analysis Workshop - was divided into
two parts and ran all afternoon. Other concurrent workshops were:
Dealing with the Media; British Columbia's new Administrative
Tribunals Act; and ADR System Design, Re-design and Evaluation.
Later in the afternoon, delegates were able to choose between other
workshops: The Four Essential Steps to Negotiating an Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU); Incorporating Existing Aboriginal
Rights and Aboriginal Treaty Rights into Our Work as Administrative
Law Decision-makers; and Case Management and Document Management
in the Computer Age.
The day concluded with the Banquet and a presentation by Pierre
Delage, a former CCAT Board member. He spoke about his post-tribunal
career in wine appreciation.
The Conference resumed on Tuesday, June 21st with workshops Responding
to Diversity – Within Tribunals and Within the Community;
Literacy and Access to Justice (French session); and Decision
and Diversity.
The closing plenary featured The Honourable Anne Mactavish, Federal
Court of Canada, who spoke about what lies ahead for Canadian administrative
tribunals and presented a paper entitled: The Self-Represented
Litigants.
This plenary was followed by the official launch of CCAT's manual:
Literacy and Access to Administrative Justice: A Guide for the Promotion
of Plain Language. The Guide is available in PDF format at: http://www.ccat-ctac.org/en/publications/.
In closing, Robert Owen, the Chair of CCAT's Public Outreach Committee,
introduced a short video of the 2005 CCAT Medal presentation to
Mr. Robert F. Macaulay, Q.C., which was held earlier in Toronto.
For more information please see: http://www.ccat-ctac.org/en/news/article.php?id=82
The conferences for 2006 and 2007 were announced by the CCAT Chair,
Michèle Juteau. For more information please see: http://www.ccat-ctac.org/en/conferences/
Please visit the following pages of our Web site for further information
about the conference program and to download the papers and presentations
submitted by the speakers.
On behalf of CCAT's Executive Committee and Board of Directors,
we would like to thank again the many volunteers who assisted us
in preparing the program and the speakers and moderators who took
the time to come and assist us in making possible this unique learning
opportunity in administrative justice.
CCAT looks forward to seeing you all for next year's Annual Conference
which will be held at the Ottawa Congress Centre from June 11 to
13, 2006, in Ottawa, Ontario.
Heather MacFadgen and Jean-Guy Fleury, Co-chairs of CCAT's 21st
Annual Conference
August 9, 2005
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