The ACC also has a chapter in Ontario and a networking group in Calgary. The addition of the Quebec chapter adds 90 new members to the ACC.
“[The] ACC is a world-renowned organization and we are looking forward to providing programs and events specifically created for in-house counsel practicing in Canada,” says Nadia Martel, Bombardier Recreational Products senior legal counsel and president of the new Quebec chapter of the ACC.
“While we share many of the same concerns as our peers in the U.S. and across the globe, working in Canada presents unique challenges.”
The chapter was ratified during the ACC annual general meeting in Seattle last October. The official announcement was not made until late last week. Along with the expansion in Canada, the ACC also welcomed their 25,000th member in October.
The 90 lawyers in Quebec represent Montreal, Quebec City, Gatineau, and St. Laurent. According to the group’s news release, they join the more than 250 ACC members representing 200 corporations in the Toronto area.
“The establishment of the Quebec Chapter is another step towards serving the needs of the in-house community,” says ACC president Fred Krebs. “It represents the desire of attorneys to learn and extend themselves to other members of the in-house community, as well as a greater expansion of ACC’s global network of in-house counsel, which now represents nearly 80 countries.”
Joining Martel as the Quebec chapter’s executive as vice president is Susan Kucer, senior legal counsel of Nokia Inc., Secretary Marie-Christine Brochu, senior legal counsel of International Air Transport Association, Treasurer Sandra Heller, general counsel Americas for Kaba Ilco, Inc., communications chairperson Jose Leger, conseiller juridique general for Tecsult Inc., and membership chairperson Leila Heller, senior legal counsel for KalusAir Services Inc.
“We are very pleased with our presence in Canada,” Krebs told Canadian Lawyer InHouse in October. He cited the two chapters and the involvement with the Canadian Lawyer InHouse/Association of Corporate Counsel roundtable in which he took part over the summer.
“I participated in the roundtable, the recent roundtable on corporate and social responsibility,” says Krebs on some of the groups other Canadian involvement. “I enjoyed that opportunity, I learned from that opportunity and got to meet several general counsel and in-house lawyers from Canada and I learned a great deal.”
