On December 3, 2021, the provincial-level Board of Directors of the Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM) elected lawyer Chris Deeble as a director, where he will serve a three-year term to represent the Ottawa region.
Chris gratefully acknowledges the exceptional contribution and dedication of his predecessor, Elizabeth Sterritt, who has now completed her term on the provincial board of directors. Chris is honoured to continue in Elizabeth’s footsteps. Like Elizabeth, Chris champions the Insight Mediation method. Also, under Elizabeth’s tutelage, Chris is slated to become an Accredited Intergenerational Mediator in early 2022.
In his executive work, Chris embraces a philosophy of stewardship. He has worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the Ontario mediation community. His work explicitly recognizes and/or builds upon the trailblazing of his predecessors.
- In 2018, Chris coordinated the submissions of the OAFM to Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for the final reading of the act to amend the Divorce Act.
- In 2019, Chris arranged for The Honourable David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, as the keynote speaker of the annual joint conference of the OAFM and the Ontario Association of Collaborative Professionals, known as “Family Peacemakers”.
- In 2020 and 2021, Chris was a volunteer judge of the annual Walsh Family Law Negotiation Competition – the country’s first family law moot competition.
- In 2019, with the support of his extraordinary colleagues in Ottawa, Chris initiated an organizational review of the Ottawa Chapter. In 2021, that teamwork resulted in a reinvigorated local chapter, with the implementation of new Bylaws, Terms of Reference, and the redevelopment and rollout (pending) of a completely new website.
Chris has the blessing of the provincial board of directors to complete his current mandate as President of the local Chapter, which expires in June 2022.