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The Central Alberta Bar Society is a professional, voluntary organization whose membership comprises lawyers, judges and law students in the central Alberta region. The Society acts as a liaison between its members and various institutions and organizations such as the Courts, government, the Law Society of Alberta and the Canadian Bar Association. The "CABS" also organizes public education events such as the annual Law Day event.
Members of the CABS volunteer their time on a variety of committees, thereby enabling the CABS to provide an important and objective voice on issues of significance to both the legal profession and the public. Examples of past and present committees include the:
- Pro Bono Project Committee - establishing the Central Alberta Legal Clinic Foundation in Red Deer;
- Law Day Committee - Law Day celebrates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provide public education and promotes the lawyers, legal services and law enforcement providers that serve our community; and
- Courthouse Expansion Committee - a working committee for the expansion of the Red Deer Court House.
The CABS also works to improve the administration of justice. For example, the CABS liaises with the Alberta Justice Minister to improve the granting of the emergency protection orders in family law matters and to address the lack of a Justice of the Peace in Red Deer.
Individual CABS members, in their personal capacities, also volunteer their time on a variety of other projects and programs which serve the public, including having served such organizations as: the United Way, St. John Ambulance, Kidney Foundation, Rotary Clubs, Kinsmen Clubs, the Loaves and Fishes program, the Red Deer Public Library Board, Red Deer Regional Hospital Foundation, Big Brothers and Big Sisters Clubs, Boys and Girls Clubs, Kiwanis Clubs, Optimist Clubs, Red Deer Visitor and Convention Bureau, Red Deer Downtown Business Association, Red Deer Child Care Society, Alberta Women's Shelter, Canadian Mental Health Organization, Central Alberta Group Therapy Society, Red Deer Youth and Volunteer Centre, Junior Achievement and others.