March 13, 2024
Former US attorney general dishes on time as designated survivor under Bush
Alberto Gonzales, who served as attorney general in President George W. Bush’s administration, was on a plane as the “designated survivor” for the 2007 State of the Union address, a unique experience he discussed Thursday with NewsNation.
Gonzales said he was approached by Bush’s chief of staff about a week before the speech about being the designated survivor for the government in case of a catastrophic attack on the Capitol.
He said he was given two options “in terms of what I could do that evening” and he chose the option to be in a plane during the address because “it would be kind of cool to fly around … as the president gave the State of the Union.”
When he arrived at Maryland’s Andrews Air Force Base, Gonzales said there were individuals from “every major department and agency” that had “big binders of protocols and procedures to advise me in the event that I became president.”
Gonzales said he was briefed on a number of things and he “settled in” on the plane to watch Bush give his address “where I suddenly realized” that if something were to happen at the Capitol, he would be president.
“It’s a sobering thought, quite frankly,” he said.
He said that there was no “special training” for being a designated survivor, saying he assumed it was “in the binders.”
He added that he thinks the president chooses a designated survivor who has a good understanding of what is going on in the world and the country.
Gonzales said he was “honored to do it.”
The tradition of naming a designated survivor began in the 1950s as a Cold War-era policy designed to keep the government from being completely dismantled if something were to happen, since the vice president, Cabinet members and both
Michele Carver | Insurance Brokers Association of BC (IBABC)
Michele Carver, President, Insurance Brokers Association of BC (IBABC)
“I originally wanted to be a veterinarian,” says Michele Carver, president of the Insurance Brokers Association of British Columbia (IBABC), and manager of agency compliance for The British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA). “I worked in veterinary clinics while at university, but I ran out of money.”
BCAA was right down the street from Carver’s home at the time. Her father pushed her in that direction, so she joined the company. She has been there ever since, including while raising two children, now grown.
Focusing on family while trying to stay connected to opportunities at work was no easy task. It can be difficult for women, as they juggle priorities and as they age, to ensure they remain relevant.
“Over the last 12 years, I’ve thought, ‘If I don’t get on things, I’m going to lose traction,’” Carver shares. “I started purposefully doing a lot of networking and taking a lot of certifications to make up for my lack of a degree.”
Of course, Carver did not lose traction at all, extending his work beyond the walls of the BCAA about eight years ago by becoming involved with IBABC. Last year, she was first broker employee to step into the year-long role of president; and she will soon become the board’s chairwoman when a new nominee takes over as president of the association in May.
She is also involved with the Insurance Council of British Columbia as a non-voting member, doing a lot of committee work and sharing in discussions around things like changes to licensing.
“At IBABC, my mandate is to support our members to make sure they are as successful as possible,” says Carver. That includes, among other things, taking part in advocacy work and providing education. “I enjoy getting
Legal aid booths to be opened in courts across the peninsula
KUALA LUMPUR: Legal aid booths will be opened next month for the public at court premises across Peninsular Malaysia.
Malaysian Bar president Karen Cheah Yee Lynn said the booth, to operate on the first Wednesday of every month, also ensures that impecunious persons receive legal advice and representation.
She said there are now 14 legal aid centers in Peninsular Malaysia, catering to every state, and they have assisted more than 124,000 people over the past decade.
“Interestingly, if we assume that professional fees were at a nominal rate of RM1,000 per file, our volunteer members would have provided legal services valued at RM120 million in the last decade. The KL legal aid center alone assisted over 2,700 foreigners in 2023 .
“At this point, I would like to mention another initiative by our National Legal Aid & YBGK Committee—each and every member of the Bar Council, including its office bearers, has pledged their commitment to handling one legal aid case in a year, volunteering to be on duty at a legal aid center, or participate in legal awareness or outreach programs organized by State Legal Aid Centres,” she said.
She said this on Monday (March 11) at the launch of ‘Guaman Majlis Peguam Assistance Day’ at the Kuala Lumpur Courts Complex here, which Chief Justice Tun Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat officiated.
Cheah further said that it is priceless when people are offered assistance expecting nothing in return, adding that she believes such assistance has the potential for great impact, affecting legal aid recipients, their family members, and possibly even future generations.
Touching on the background of the legal aid centre, Cheah said the Bar Council started its first center in 1980, first in a small village coffee shop and later in a wooden shack in the then-fishing village of Bayan