2019 Women’s Business and Commercial Advocate’s Honorees

Two outstanding honorees were selected for the WBCA Reception in Vancouver held immediately before the BCLC/Judges Initiative dinner on March 28, 2019 at the beautiful and historic pavilion at Stanley Park.

The 2019 Honorees:

An executive, lawyer, director and writer, Anne Giardini was president of Weyerhaeuser Company Limited after serving as Weyerhaeuser's General Counsel. A long-time leader within Canada’s resource industry, she has served on many related boards including B.C.’s Council of Forest Industries, the Alberta Forest Products Association, the Forest Products Association of Canada, and Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and, as Chair, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. She currently serves on the boards of CMHC, TransLink, HydroOne, BC Achievement, and WWF-Canada among others and is an honorary patron of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada.

Giardini is the author of t wo novels and co-editor of a collection of writing advice. She has been Chair of the Vancouver Writers Festival and a board member of the Writers Trust of Canada.

In 2009, Giardini was appointed Queen’s Council. She received the Robert V.A. Jones Award in 2011 recognizing leadership in corporate counsel practice, and was named one of Canada's 25 most influential lawyers. Giardini was honoured with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and a Lexpert Zenith Award in 2013 and served as a member of the Federal Advisory Council for Promoting Women on Boards. In 2014 and again in 2016, she was recognized by WXN as one of Canada's 100 most powerful women. In 2015 she received a Western Canada General Counsel Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2016, Giardini was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for her contributions to the forestry sector, higher education and the literary community. In 2018, she was recognized with a Business in Vancouver Influential Women in Business Award and was appointed to the Order of British Columbia.

Giardini holds a B.A. in Economics from SFU, LL.B. from UBC, and LL.M. from Cambridge University (Trinity Hall).

Anne Stewart, Partner Emeritus with Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, is recognized as one of Canada’s best business lawyers and a pioneer in the traditionally male-dominated fields of mergers and acquisitions, corporate structuring and infrastructure and finance. As a Senior Partner for more than 25 years, Anne pioneered the legal framework for infrastructure projects across Canada, guiding her clients through some of the largest transactions in the industry. Anne’s influence on the business landscape over her distinguished career is matched only by her impact on the careers of the many women she has mentored and championed along the way. Always looking to lift those up around her, Anne also co-founded programs that help women return to work and transition to fulfilling retirement.