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Fort Calgary was founded and named by a lawyer who became the first resident judge…
In 1860, James F. Macleod passed his bar examinations at Osgoode Hall and articled at the Kingston law office of Alexander Campbell. He practiced law for a decade at Bowmanville Ontario (Durham) however, his true interest lay in serving in the militia.
A History of Edmonton’s Legal Discussion Clubs
By Brenda McCafferty, LASA Archivist Edmonton Legal Discussion Club Two of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Legal Discussion Club were L.Y. Cairns and John A. Weir. The Law School at University of Alberta came into formation in 1922 with the...
What is LASA’s Oral History Program
Typically, when we imagine historians researching, they are sitting at a table in an archive or library flipping through dusty documents that are hundreds of years old or reading an obscure book about a long-ago event or period. It is true that historians, in the...
Calgary Historical Dinner 2024
On June 19, 2024, LASA hosted its Annual Historical Dinner in Calgary. We were delighted to welcome the Honourable Peter Martin of the Court of Appeal of Alberta who spoke to us about the changes he witnessed in the law and the courts over his 50 years of...
2024 Annual General Meeting
LASA hosted its Annual General Meeting on June 12, 2024, via ZOOM. Members of the current Board of Directors re-appointed for a two-year term are Hon. Madam Justice Jo’Anne Strekaf, Aaron Bickman, K.C., Brian Kiers, and Leslie Stitt. LASA also welcomes...
Remote Justice: The Stipendiary Magistrates Court of the Northwest Territories, 1905-1955
A thesis publication on Remote Justice by Graham E. Price, with forward by Stacy Kaufield
Who Is Going To Run This Country? The Victoria Park Barracks and the Conscription Crisis, 1918
Stacy F. Kaufeld, M.A. *Originally a speech presented to the Calgary Association of Lifelong Learners on January 22, 2024. “Who is going to run this country, the Chief Justice or the Government?”[1] This was a question put to deputy sheriff, John McCaffary by Major...
Born Unequal: Alberta and the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement
Stacy F. Kaufeld, M.A. *Originally a speech presented to the Calgary Association of Lifelong Leaners on February 26, 2024. On September 1, 1905, the Alberta Act brought the province into Confederation, but it was not a full partnership. Under section 109 of the...
From the Vault
By Brenda McCafferty, LASA Archivist LASA is grateful to Merry Rogers (Law Society of Alberta employee) for her recent donation of an interesting court ledger acquired last month. At first look, the ledger appeared unexceptional but upon further examination it...
From the Graham Price legal history library – Excerpts from the collection Black History Month – February 2024
by Brenda McCafferty, LASA Archivist In April 2022, LASA acquired 1,500 books now comprising the Graham Price Legal History Library. Price’s extensive library helps position our repository as a center for academic scholarly research and comparative study. The range...








