President’s Message

CAPSLE is a national organization whose aim is to provide an open forum for the practical study of legal issues related to and affecting the education system and its stakeholders.

I believe that membership in CAPSLE provides a number of benefits. The first of these is the opportunity to meet and network with a wide variety of education stakeholders, including academics, teachers, administrators, board members, trustees, unions, school board associations, educators, students, government representatives and lawyers.

Having a chance to meet with other others who work in education, and to share their expertise and experience, is one of the principle benefits CAPSLE offers. That is why we place a significant focus on our annual Spring conference. The conference generally welcomes 400 or more of our members and the schedule allows ample time to socialize, and network. The seminar presentations can be as diverse as privacy rights, freedom of expression, special education, and school board governance. Multiple sessions are presented at the same time, offering a wealth of subjects to explore. Our most recent conference in Toronto in April 2009 (the 20th!) was a great success, and I wish to thank all who worked so hard to make it so. In particular, I must single out the Conference Organizing Team and its Co-Chairs, Martha Mckinnon, Allyson Otten and Rob Weir.

The emphasis at CAPSLE is on the practical, and our goal with the annual conference is to provide a forum where issues of local, national and international interest can be explored, not just in theory, but in practical application. The next conference will be held in Calgary from April 25-27, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Calgary. Additional information about the conference will be added to the Conference page of this website as it becomes available. You can also get information from the CAPSLE Secretariat, Lori Pollock at info@capsle.ca.

CAPSLE offers our members much more than the Conference, however. We publish annual Conference Proceedings, which are edited collections of the papers submitted by our conference presenters. We also publish a quarterly newsletter for our members called CAPSLE Comments, which contains articles about recent legal decisions in the education sector, legislative initiatives, policy discussions, and so on. Members are welcome to submit relevant articles for inclusion in the newsletter. Archived copies of the newsletter are available on the public portion of the CAPSLE website, while the most recent editions (as well as many of the Conference Proceedings papers) are available to members on the members’ only portion of the website.

Finally, CAPSLE’s Extranet provides members with contact information for other members of CAPSLE who have opted to be included, giving each member access to the “Who’s Who” in education law in Canada, and the opportunity to engage in dialogue with members representing a broad range of perspectives. This provides a unique opportunity to connect with other members, and to discuss and consult about the key education issues of the day.

I believe strongly in CAPSLE and the many benefits we offer our members, and I hope you will consider joining us if you have not already done so. I look forward to seeing you in Calgary!

Judy Begley, President