Upcoming Events
The BCIRA includes professionals and academics in industrial relations in British Columbia.
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Wednesday, February 22, 2012
" Labour Relations in Professional Sports "
Doesn’t it always bother you when the media refers to the NHL “Collective Bargaining Agreement” instead of the more familiar term? What is all the talk about players’ agents and free agency? What really goes on in the labour relations world of pro sports, with their millionaire athletes and iconic teams? Join us for a glimpse into the world of pro sports labour relations.
Our panel of Guest Speakers to address this topic will be:
Peter Gall, Q. C. is well known to you all as employer side counsel and partner at Heenan Blakie. Did you know that Peter previously taught sports law at Stanford Law School and currently teaches sports law at the University of Victoria Law School?He will lead a discussion with people from our own Canadian Football League (CFL);
Wally Buono spent 9 seasons as BC Lions General Manager and head coach. He recently resigned as head coach to concentrate on General Manager duties. In 2011, the Lions had a spectacular recovery from a slow start to capture the Grey Cup for a second time with Wally as coach. Buono, is the CFL's winningest coach with a regular-season record of 254-139-3 and a record-tying five Grey Cup titles. His consistency and success have been recognized with the CFL’s Coach of the Year award in 2006, 1993 and 1992 - becoming only the 3rd coach to receive the award that many times;
Edward Molstad is the Legal Counsel with the CFL’s Player Association (CFLPA). Ed played defensive end with the University of Alberta Football Team and went on to play professionally with the Edmonton Eskimos (1968-1973). During Ed’s career as a CFL player, he completed his Law degree and started a legal practice, as a Player Representative and later, a member of the CFLPA Executive Committee. He was appointed Legal Counsel for the CFLPA in 1974 and has continued to serve in that capacity to the present day;
Daniel Vertlieb will present the Players’ Agents perspective. He is an attorney in Arizona, and has 10 years sports and media experience in baseball and football. He is an NFLPA and CFLPA licensed agent. Dan’s experience in Baseball includes working with Major League Baseball in 2009 salary arbitration cases and worked with the Vancouver Canadians.
VENUE CHANGE: The Plaza 500 is undergoing renovations. This meeting will be at Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites, 1763 Comox St. A no host bar opens at 5:30pm with dinner at 6:30pm.
Please reserve by February 10, 2012 as we ONLY arrange seating/dinner for advance reservations. Admission without a reservation will not be guaranteed and is more expensive.
This dinner meeting is eligible for 1 hour of Continuing Professional Development credits from the Law Society of BC. For further information, e-mail nancy.tang@sauder.ubc.ca
The BCIRA is a non-profit organization, established in 1979, and dedicated to providing a forum for open debate and the dissemination of information on current labour relations issues in British Columbia. Our dinner functions are attended by a broad labour relations community comprised of management, unions, neutrals, government officials and academics. We look forward to seeing you at this event!
