2021/22 Marks CLG's 50th Birthday

By Marina Giacomin, Executive Director, CLG

Happy New Year to You All!!

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your support and help during what turned out to be a very strange last year!  Your willingness to be creative with us in offering legal advice was an important factor to a lot of people’s lives being a bit less stressful than they might have.  You have helped continue making a difference for many people in our city (and Province!).  We know the importance of legal help, especially for folks who wouldn’t otherwise be able to access a lawyer.  And that’s why each of you is so important to us!

2021/22 is the year of CLG’s 50^th Birthday! We will be working on ways to celebrate together throughout the year, and to thank you for your commitment.  Please keep an eye out for opportunities to share your ideas and help us plan some birthday events.  Also, there are opportunities this year to join a board committee.  This is a great way to get to know all of the work of CLG better and is also a pathway onto our board in the future if that is of interest to you!  The board committees which will be looking for members are:

Stakeholder Engagement – this is Public Relations/Communications committee.  Its role is to help spread the word about CLG and about Access to Justice issues.  It could involve writing blog posts, vlogs (video blogs), media engagement, workshops, Podcasts, and other activities.  If this is something you’d be interested in, please email me directly.

Advocacy – this committee is intended to elevate access to justice issues affecting low-income or marginilzed Albertans, to a legislative level.  The committee works in partnership with CLG lawyers and advocates, and with our community partners across the Province to identify systemic issues and advocate for change.  Please email me directly if you’re interested.

There may be additional committees looking for new members in the coming months so stay tuned!

You may not know that in December 2020, CLG members voted in favour of some by law changes at a Special Meeting.  The new bylaws have been filed and are available on our website.

Finally, let me thank you again for everything!  The CLG board, staff, and I, wish you all happiness and health in this new year.  I am looking forward to the time when we can all be together again in person.

Cheers,
Marina Giacomin, MA
Executive Director