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Court getting more diverse by the day Y ou might mean well but it's still probably not a good idea to tell a Manitoba judge "you've come a long way, baby." But there's no mistaking the progress made by women in the Provincial Court over the past 21 years. In 1988, there were zero women on the bench. With the recent filling of two vacant seats — Shauna Hewitt-Michta, a Crown attorney, was recently sworn in along with Herbert Lawrence Allen — the count of women judges now sits at 20, or nearly 49 per cent of the 41 judges. Nobody is happier about the development than Provincial Court Chief Judge Ray Wyant. "This is the highest percentage of women on any court in the country, not in absolute numbers, because some benches are quite large. I don't believe any court comes close to the [percentage of women] on the bench in Manitoba," Wyant says women aren't recommended to the bench simply because of their gender but diversity is a factor when assessing a candidate's suitability for the appointment. Other elements to be checked off include community involvement, integrity, professional excellence, honesty, and experience. Since Wyant took on the top job six-and-a-half years ago, the Manitoba bench has diversified on many fronts, welcoming six aboriginal judges, one openly gay judge, and judges from both anglophone and francophone backgrounds. "Most people have had an aspect of diversity to their appointments. Diversity runs the gamut. I wouldn't Searching for a better way to attract candidates? experience. results. | | www. ntitled-3 1 mag.com APRIL 2009 9 2/10/09 9:18:46 AM say we absolutely reflect the diversity of Manitoba's society now, not yet. But we are certainly much more diverse than our court has ever been and, I venture to say, one of the most diverse courts in the country," he says. Wyant says courts should reflect the diversity of the communities they serve so people can look at them and say, "they're like us." — GEOFF KIRBYSON gmkirbyson@shaw.ca Your pharmaceutical litigation team Managing Intellectual Property Canadian Patent Contentious Firm of the Year 2008.