TDS lawyer John Stefaniuk elected as Vice President of the Canadian Bar Association [updated]

published 09/01/2022

September 1, 2022 update:

Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP (TDS) Partner John Stefaniuk has begun his elected role as 2022-23 Vice President of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA). In this role, John will support the 2022-23 President, Steeves Bujold, and serve as chair of the CBA’s Governance and Equality Committee.

John looks forward to helping to advance the CBA's initiatives, including supporting the rule of law here and abroad, ensuring a pluralistic and inclusive CBA that is welcoming to members from all backgrounds, working to ensure that equality is a lived reality for the legal profession in the 21st century, advocating for an inclusive justice system that is equally accessible to all, and building upon the CBA's commitment to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

 “This is the highlight of my many years of active involvement in the Canadian Bar Association. It is incumbent upon all lawyers to give back to their profession and to their communities, each in their own way. That is where we reap the richest rewards of being a lawyer.”, said John Stefaniuk.

View his Vice President profile on the CBA's website.

February 7, 2022 announcement:

Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP (TDS) congratulates Partner John Stefaniuk on his election as Vice-President of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) for 2022-2023.  Under the CBA’s governance structure, the Vice President is elected and then becomes President the following year.

John’s election recognizes his ongoing dedication to the legal community, and his active involvement with the CBA and in his home community, Winnipeg. He has served as Chair of the National Environmental Law Section, Chair of the Judicial Issues Subcommittee, Chair of the Investment Steering Subcommittee, member of the Supreme Court Liaison Committee, director of the Canadian Bar Insurance Association, and co-chair of three national conferences. He has travelled twice to East Africa with the CBA’s Supporting Inclusive Resource Development project. John also served as president of the Manitoba Bar Association in 2005-2006. John was Board Chair of The Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights during its $150 million capital campaign, culminating in the building of the first national museum outside the National Capital Region.

“Everyone at TDS was excited to hear the news and I’m particularly pleased for the profession,“ said TDS CEO and Managing Partner Keith LaBossiere. “John has been a leader and role model at TDS since he joined us as a student in 1987, and his appointment to this highly respected national role is a credit to Manitoba’s legal community.“

John earned his commerce and law degrees at the University of Manitoba and was called to the bar in 1988. He engages in a broad practice with an emphasis on environmental law, real estate and development law, natural resources and energy, commercial law and municipal law matters. He has been repeatedly named to the Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide’s 500 Leading Lawyers in Canada. He is listed in the Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory under Environmental Law and Property Development and in the international Chambers Guide and Who’s Who Legal guide under Environmental Law.

The CBA is the voice of Canada’s legal community and is an advocate for and on behalf of the more than 36,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and law students from across Canada who are its members. John will assume his Vice President role in September of this year.

View the Canadian Bar Association announcement


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