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Despite society’s progress in so many areas, disabilities like Down Syn- drome are too often seen as abnormalities that detract from a person’s worth. Reflecting back on those two conversations — and experiences
— Tamara brought her audience to tears with her articulate explanation of how it is that she came to be a disability advocate.
Additional speaker presentations featured topics as diverse as avalanche risk assessment; the study of happiness; transnational crime and mon- ey laundering; anti-Asian racism; addiction medicine; and the truckers’ convoy protest that shut down Ottawa in 2022.
University of British Columbia Health Professor Michael Law narrated in vivid terms how he and his young family uprooted to Rwanda and studied an initiative using drones to deliver time-sensitive emergency blood supplies and medicine to remote areas of that East African country.
Fellows Marilyn Sandford, KC, and Geoffrey Cowper, KC, spoke respec- tively on an astounding wrongful conviction case, and on justiciability and the intersection of politics and the law.
In addition to the speakers and upscale hotel venue, those attending were treated to an oceanside feast of salmon and chicken at a restaurant on Granville Island, and had the chance to check out all of the offerings of the dynamic city of Vancouver. President Susan Harriman conveyed the warmth and collegiality of the gathering with her address at the final banquet dinner. The event was a success, one measured in memories and friendships.
Brock Martland, K.C. Vancouver, BC
FALL 2023
JOURNAL 22