Class Notes

After graduating from Queen’s, I returned to Ottawa and eventually began work on my MA thesis in political science for Carleton University, comparing Indigenous land rights in Canada and Australia. As part of my research, I travelled to Canberra, Australia, in 1978 where, without having ever planned to do so, I applied for and was accepted into the law school of the Australian National University. After graduating from the ANU Law School in 1981, I spent a couple of years in private legal practice, followed by several years as a corporate in-house lawyer before joining the Australian Public Service in 1990, the year I also got married in Adelaide. Some of the highlights of my career were helping draft and implement legislation to set up Australia’s sports drug agency and the National Environment Protection Agency, a national regime for the recognition of Indigenous native title, as well as spending three years in Darwin in the Northern Territory as manager of the Aboriginal Land Rights legislation section. My final position before retiring was as General Counsel and Senior Legal Officer in the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC). Just thought some might be interested in which direction my degree from Queen’s ended up taking me — some major and unexpected changes in direction that I would have never thought of at the time of my graduation.  

Jim Campbell has been Director, Development at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra since October 2018. This is his first opportunity to work in the world of the performing arts. In his community volunteer roles, Jim is President of the Alberta Wilderness Association and also serves on the board of the Centre for Suicide Prevention. Contact Jim.

I retired in 2021 from the Queen’s University Library system after 35 years.  I retired from IT project management consulting in 2002, and returned to teaching. I retired from teaching high school mathematics and science in 2008 and picked up the pace on my old hobby: building computer models of various kinds of dynamic systems. In 2010, I started to study economic models and the issues around economic sustainability. I quickly came to the conclusion that modern economies are somewhat unstable. I also realized that they are entirely unsustainable if they do not have an ever-increasing feedstock of energy. I now regularly make presentations about my models at a variety of economic and other conferences, and I am a guest lecturer from time to time in various universities.

Storme Blais (nee Genge, my Facebook name) enjoying the eighth year of retirement from CBE and winters in Mexico with Jim MacNichol, celebrating 21 years together! Facebook contacts welcome.

On July 9, 2021, I completed 47 years as a Judge in the Criminal Division of the Provincial Court of Alberta, presiding primarily in Calgary. In that part of my life, I served as President of the Alberta Provincial Judges Association, and for 12 years as the Assistant Chief Judge in Calgary and Region. In October 2021, I will complete 55 years as a member of Lions Clubs International, the largest and most responsive service club organization in the world, with 1.4 million men and women members in close to 50,000 clubs in 213 countries and geographic areas. I was privileged to serve as the International President in 1987-1988. In that office, I was able to visit close to one hundred nations and to meet with many heads of state, ambassadors, premiers, governors and municipal leaders. In addition, I was invited to speak at the UN and at the Houses of Parliament in London, England. In my blended family, I am the proud father of four wonderful girls, 11 outstanding grandchildren, and six marvellous great-grandchildren. When I consider the many privileges I have enjoyed in the first 81 years of my life, I count my three years attending Queen’s to be at the top of the list. I’m a proud member of the Tricolour Guard.

We follow the sun – July, August, September – on Lake Champlain islands in northern Vermont; seven months in Lima (Miraflores), Perú, from November through May; and two months (coming and going) on Fripp Island, South Carolina. I’ve been retired since 2015, after 48 years of teaching Spanish and coaching cross-country skiing, hockey, and track at WRA in Hudson, Ohio. Warmest regards from myself and Rossana Raffo.