Last November, we received a large delegation of Chinese arbitrators and judges in Montreal, who had come to visit us and learn more about arbitration in Canada while on their way to the 14^th International Congress of Maritime Arbitrators in New York. The main event was a mock arbitration, which was held in the Moot Court at McGill University, the tribunal including of our Chinese guests. We are grateful to the McGill Law Faculty for their help and support. We are also grateful to the Port of Montreal, who very kindly entertained the group to lunch.

In February, we staged another mock arbitration in Winnipeg, at the end of the Grain World Conference. We did this is conjunction with the Vancouver Maritime Arbitrators’ Association. This event was very successful, and attracted a large and attentive audience. Perhaps more significant, it also provided the opportunity to cooperate with our colleagues from the West Coast, which was most enjoyable. We all felt that this was a very positive development, and one which should be repeated in order to foster and maintain a good working relationship between the two associations.

We held five open meetings in Montreal, and one in Halifax. This year, we decided to change our habits, and experiment with lunch-time meetings in Montreal. I think it is fair to say that this change has proved to be popular, and the attendance has been good, so it is likely that we will continue this practice for the coming year. The Halifax meeting, where Bill Barr spoke about developments within AMAC, took place over dinner.

I have already mentioned the ICMA XIV conference in New York last October, where two of the papers were presented by AMAC members. Despite the timing of the event, the enrolment was good, and the audience attentive. We took the opportunity to circulate some specially prepared information about AMAC to all of the delegates.

In April, I was invited, as President of your association, to address the seminar for Judges of the Federal Court, which is arranged every two years by the CMLA. This was quite an honour for us, and an excellent opportunity to increase general awareness of AMAC and what it does.

Next month, we are going to present a one-day seminar in Montreal on chartering problems. This will be open to anyone who wishes to attend and will, we hope, appeal to a large number of shipping people. We have managed to keep the entrance fee down to $50, and the programme has been designed to appeal, not only to shipowners and charterers, but also to agents and brokers. We also expect it to be of interest to some shippers and receivers, who may not have any direct involvement in chartering activities.

This year, we have continued to rely on our web-site as our main vehicle to carry all of the information about the association, its activities and its membership; and we were most gratified to see that the London Maritime Arbitrators Association has now decided to follow us, and dispense with the printed page. As always, we are grateful to Bob Simpson for his continuing efforts in maintaining our site.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Frances Gregory, who has offered her resignation as Treasurer. Frances has carried this responsibility for many years; and for most of that time she was also the Secretary. We really appreciate her dedicated efforts.

I must end on a sad note. Willy Andersen died in May. Willy, who was our President from 1995 to 1997, was a founding member of AMAC and a loyal and conscientious supporter. He never thought that any job was beneath him, and was always keen to participate in everything we did. We will miss his courteous wit and cheerful good humour.

John Weale,

Montreal,

10 September, 2002