Aird & Berlis is pleased to announce that John Mascarin has been awarded the Barnet Kussner Award of Excellence in Municipal Law for 2023 by his peers in the Ontario Bar Association's Municipal Law Section.

The award recognizes legal excellence and contribution to the development of municipal law and related policies, procedures, practice and legislation in the province of Ontario. John is honoured to follow Jane Pepino and Leo Longo, also partners at Aird & Berlis, who were both previous recipients of this prestigious award.

John is a member of the firm's Municipal and Land Use Planning Group. He is widely regarded as a leader in municipal, planning and local government law and is the lead for the firm's municipal accountability team, representing dozens of municipalities and advising many accountability officers across all of Ontario.

In 2022, he was the recipient of the Bruce A. Noble Distinguished Canadian Municipal Lawyer Award, presented by the International Municipal Lawyers Association (IMLA) to a Canadian member who has demonstrated excellence in the profession. He previously received an IMLA President's Award for Most Outstanding Association Member in 2011, which is given to a private sector lawyer practising local government law – the first Canadian lawyer to be so honoured.

Congratulations, John!