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Follow us on TwitterWhile the warm weather makes it hard to believe we’re into fall, we are certainly into the full swing of fall activity.
In September, we were pleased to attend two 25th anniversary parties for housing co‑ops – one in Whitby and another in Pickering. So great to see co‑ops do what they do best – celebrate strong, inclusive community.
In late September, we also delivered an IC Education workshop for housing co‑ops. We were delighted to have Alterna Savings and Credit Union sponsor the event, allowing co‑ops to attend for free. Thanks to the Central Ontario Co‑operative Housing Federation (COCHF) for co‑organising this with us. Although it was held at a co‑op in Waterloo and many attendees were from COCHF co‑ops, we were delighted to have people attend from Sudbury, North Bay, Toronto, Peel Region and the Niagara Peninsula. If you have ideas about in‑person training and have the space to accommodate it, please be in touch. If we can find a way to deliver training in a way that is cost‑effective for you, we will.
ONPHA has its annual conference, themed “Owning our Future”, on Nov 1‑3 in Toronto. Iler Campbell lawyers are honoured to be on the program a few times: on Friday, Nov 1, Safia Lakhani will help housing providers understand their current obligations to their employees; and Celia Chandler will be part of a panel discussing medical assistance in death and how that relates to housing. On Saturday, Nov 2, Michael Hackl will pair up with another housing lawyer to discuss cannabis in housing; and Celia will return to the conference to offer thoughts on Building Successful Tenancies and Strong Communities with two community mediators.
The Co‑operative Housing Federation of Toronto (CHFT) has its Durham Fall Education Day on November 9, 2019 and its Toronto Event on November 30, 2019. Celia will attend both days delivering a workshop that highlights issues that co‑op boards should be mindful of in their role as employers.
Iler Campbell LLP is a proud sponsor of CHFT’s Century of Co‑operation awards to co‑op members whose years of membership and age total 100+. These will be awarded this fall in Toronto and in Durham Region. Like CHFT’s Diversity Scholarships, these awards highlight the important role that CHFT plays in community building in housing co‑ops and beyond.
Brian Iler and Celia Chandler will head down the highway to Guelph on October 15, 2019 to the Ontario Co‑operative’s Association’s (OCA) Annual General Meeting. If your organization is a member, this is a great event – free too! ‑ to get connected or reconnected to others in the co‑op sector.
While we believe in the value of in‑person education, we recognise that it may not always be convenient to you so this year we’ve launched a webinar series. We’re excited to be able to provide you with legal information right at your desktop, live‑streamed or after the fact. If you missed our previous three webinars, you can find them on line: Claudia Pedrero’s session about Community Land Trusts, Safia Lakhani’s update on changes to the Employment Standards Act, and Shelina Ali’s talk about social media. If you have ideas about webinar topics, please let us know.
Our series will continue this fall. Stay tuned to see what we have in store for you!
Finally, as some of you know, our colleague, Shelina Ali, will be taking a maternity leave later this fall. We’re excited for her! We’re looking for a lawyer with 5‑10 years experience who can fill in for Shelina for a 12‑14 month term. If you know a lawyer who might be interested, have them be in touch with us. Big shoes to fill but a great chance for the right person to experience the kind of work we do serving our clients.
