Singapore Conference

Filip de Sagher

The Australian and New Zealand College of Notaries (the College, www.anzcn.org) held its most recent 2-day conference this year in October in Singapore.

The content was timely and educational and the welcome was very warm. I take the opportunity to The content was timely and educational and the welcome was very warm. I take the opportunity to once again thank the organizers…

once again thank the organizers and especially Joseph Lukaitis, President of the College’s Board of Governors; Marcus La Vincente, Deputy Chairman of its Board; and of course the ubiquitous Peter Zablud, known to many of us for his presence at our BC Notary Conferences and contributions to our Scrivener magazine.

Present from British Columbia were BC Notaries Susan Tong, Brenda Shergill, Murali Krishnan, Hilde Deprez, and myself and staff counsel Ron Usher and our CEO Jacqui Mendes. Ron and Jacqui gave well-received presentations: Ron contributed to a panel session about whether the future needed Notaries and Jacqui “marketed” the use of social media. Our BC Notaries Association organized a dinner for the College’s Board in gratitude for their invitation.

The theme of the conference was “The electronic future is now!” The opening address by David Beaves about China’s “One Belt One Road” project set the tone with a warning— this mega project that will see massive physical and digital infrastructure developed from the Near to the Far East is mind-boggling in its size and scope.

The informative presentations addressed the many challenges facing us in the not-so-distant future. I personally find it comforting to know BC Notaries are not alone in their search for answers. On the contrary, we can and should join forces.

When it comes to collaboration, the civil law Notaries are further ahead via their International Union of Notaries (UINL, www.uinl.org). They seem to have found one strong

Scrivener half page_1_FINAL.pdf 1 2018-02-28 1:06:09 PM BC Notary Filip de Sagher, BC Notaries Association CEO Jacqui Mendes, Society Counsel Ron Usher, BC Notary Hilde Deprez

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BC Notaries in Singapore: (Left) Brenda Shergill, Murali Krishnan,

Filip de Sagher, Susan Tong (at right) Beside Susan: Ron Usher, in-house counsel, The Society of Notaries Public of BC voice when speaking to supra-national bodies, such as the European Union. Quebec Notaries belong to that organization. In 2010, common law Notaries around the world founded the World Organisation of Notaries (WON, www.worldnotaries.org). Its aim is to cooperate and to promote the interests of Notaries generally. BC Notary Ken Sherk is the inaugural President of WON and Wayne Braid is Secretary.

It is my opinion that BC Notaries need the leverage that comes from international cooperation and are, in turn, well-placed to contribute.

It is my opinion that BC Notaries need the leverage that comes from international cooperation and are, in turn, well-placed to contribute to the above issues. Our strong education standards, our commitment to our various ethnic communities, our language skills, and our adaptation to new technologies speak for themselves.

As such, I urge my colleagues to attend meetings organized by abovementioned organizations whenever possible. The College will hold its next conference in 2020 in The Hague in the Netherlands, the home of the 1961 Apostille Convention. s Filip de Sagher is a BC Notary practising at Deprez & Associates in Vancouver.