Alberta Law Foundation board members removed, staff and director resign amid new provincial bill

All of the Alberta Law Foundation’s staff and executive director resigned, and two board members were removed by the Law Society of Alberta earlier in the week, following recently introduced provincial legislation that would allow the justice minister to exert power over the organization.

The foundation expressed dismay with Bill 39 in April 2025, which gives Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery control over its grants process, and with the latest bill, Bill 14, in December. It gives the minister further oversight over bylaws passed or changed by the board, among other changes related to citizen-initiated referendums.

ALF said Friday executive director Byron Chan and all its staff resigned and left the foundation, appointing consulting firm Optimus SBR as administrator.

The two removed were Moira Rose Vane and Paul Chiswell, according to the former, in a statement to Postmedia, which was confirmed on her social media account, sharing her quotes as the “full extent of what I will say publicly.”

Vane didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

She says her removal was for “challenging” the government, before suggesting that if the action was “meant to send a message,” then it was “an act of appeasement.”

Chiswell told CBC he received no notice or reason for his removal, adding the foundation likely bowed to government pressure. He didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The two new members replacing Vane and Chiswell are the former president of the Law Society of Alberta, Ken Warren, and Ron Sorokin.

Stacey Petriuk, the president of the Law Society of Alberta, confirmed to CityNews that their appointment was made on Jan. 13, but didn’t respond to questions about the dismissal of Vane and Chiswell.

“We thank Paul Chiswell and Moira Vane, KC, for their years of service to the Alberta Law Foundation,” her statement reads.

New bills introduced create uncertainty

When Bill 39 was introduced, it brought the foundation’s ire to the forefront, leading two members to resign in protest.

The bill gives Amery the final say on grants of over $250,000 from the foundation intended for community legal clinics and researchers.

The ALF says the grants are built from the interest earned from lawyers’ trust accounts and aren’t public money for the government’s use. Around 50 per cent of the interest revenue is used to fund Legal Aid Alberta yearly.

Chan at the time said the $250,000 threshold applies to nearly all of the foundation’s grants, meaning the bill presents a “fundamental shift” in how community legal services would be funded in Alberta.

The proposed law would also require the foundation to double its annual contribution to Legal Aid Alberta, while the province reduces its share.

Bill 14, meanwhile, was largely contested by several groups, including ALF and the Alberta Civil Trial Lawyers Association.

What the bill does is give Amery the final say on any bylaw changes made by the foundation, and to make bylaws and amend or repeal any set by the board.

Chief electoral officer Gordon McClure also warned it would impede the independence of his office, which led to Amery making last-minute amendments to the bill.

Amery’s press secretary, Heather Jenkins, chose not to respond to the removals and resignations at AFL, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on the matter due to it being an HR matter with the foundation.

However, she instead took the opportunity to slam AFL for what she calls an “inexcusable absence of bylaws and policies” that puts the foundation at risk, and justified Bill 14’s implementation.

“In response to the inexcusable absence of bylaws and policies at the Alberta Law Foundation, which puts the Foundation’s long-term financial stability at risk, Bill 14 enables the Minister to require the Foundation to establish bylaws, although no changes have yet been specifically directed,” she said.

“The Law Society of Alberta, entirely independent of government, made the extraordinary decision to replace their ALF board representatives. We understand that in the coming days the Foundation will provide an update to Albertans about the steps it has recently taken.”

According to the foundation’s website, ALF has operated independently for more than 50 years. It awarded 126 grants in 2024-2025, totalling $65.8 million, which is double the number of grants and triple the value from 2023-2024, the ALF annual report says.

The report also says there is over $282 million in total reserves, which is a $55 million hike compared to the end of the last fiscal year.

With files from Dione Wearmouth and The Canadian Press