Canadian Lawyer

www.canadianlawyermag.com 7 The specific takeaway for Alberta employers from the appeal court ruling is that family status claimants "should not face a separate and higher burden of proof " when establishing prima facie discrimination compared to discrimination claims based on other protected grounds. The complainant, in this case, was a registered nurse working for Alberta Health Services, and AHS changed the complainant's work schedule. The union grieved the schedule change and alleged that the employer failed to accommodate her family status. The case eventually went to the labour arbitration board. It concluded the complainant failed to establish prima facie discrimination because she had not exhausted all options for alternative childcare. The union was successful on judicial review by the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, which sent the nurse's case back to the arbitration board for another hearing. The Court of Queen's Bench ruled that the board failed to consider the SMS ruling properly and failed to reconcile the Johnstone test with other binding precedents. The Queen's Bench court concluded the board's "disregard of jurisprudence, both from this Court and from the Supreme Court of Canada, was not explained and so cannot be said to be transparent." AHS appealed the Queen's Bench court decision to the Alberta Court of Appeal. The appeal court dismissed AHS' appeal and confirmed the test in Alberta for establishing prima facie family status discrimination is the test laid out by the SCC in Moore and reaffirmed in SMS. Access to justice, diversity and inclusion key agenda items: new president of CBA B.C. branch Q&A » President, Canadian Bar Association BC Branch 2021-22 » Provincial Crown Counsel, Victoria, since 2008 » J.D. (2006), University of Victoria » B.A. (2000) and M.A. (2002), McGill University » Born on a snowy Hallowe'en night in Smithers, B.C. » Improviser, baker and reader of books "There continues to be no unified test for family status discrimination in Canada, with the applicable test depending on the jurisdiction where the discriminatory conduct is alleged to have occurred." Gary Clarke, Stikeman Elliott LLP Clare Jennings President CBABC Clare Jennings recently took over as the new president of the British Columbia branch of the Canadian Bar Association for 2021-2022. A provincial Crown counsel in Victoria and Colwood since her 2008 call to the bar, Jennings has been involved with the CBABC as an executive of its criminal justice-Victoria section and has served on several committees, including the access to justice committee and the rural education and access to lawyers initiative advisory group. On her path to the presidency, she served on the CBABC board since 2018 as director, secretary-treasurer and first vice president. What do you hope to accomplish during your term as CBABC president? During the last 18 months of the pandemic, the CBABC has become an indispensable asset and source of essential, up-to-date information for the legal community. I want to build on that by connecting with lawyers across the province to learn about the unique challenges and opportunities they face in their work. What are some of these challenges? The pandemic has resulted in a lot more video and telephone appearances. That has some big advantages, especially for bail hearings. It keeps people in their communities rather than at a regional detention centre or on bail but not in their home community. At the same time, there have been some technical challenges, with the lack of high-speed internet in some Indigenous communities, as one example. Those representing themselves may also feel they don't have the tools they need to deal with their case. Some people, for instance, might only have cell phones with a certain number of minutes and can't stay on hold for long. There are definitely some problems that need to be worked out. But we're moving in the direction of increased access. And that's what's important. What is another area you'd like to focus on during your term? Our association is actively committed to making the profession and the practice of law more inclusive and accessible to all. What diversity and inclusion mean to me is that every person can look at the legal profession and say, "that is a place where I can feel welcome." The CBA can participate in ways to achieve this goal by gathering the facts and data and providing that information to those bodies that can make the appropriate changes. You have done improv comedy for much of your life — how does that help you in the courtroom? What improv does, is to teach you to listen and to think on your feet . . . rather than thinking of the next question you plan to ask. These qualities are essential to being a barrister, and I'm a barrister at heart. Crown counsel Clare Jennings enjoys being on the frontline of public interest law

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