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HUNDREDS MOURN FORMER SASKATCHEWAN CHIEF JUSTICE M ore than 700 mourners, including the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, attended the state funeral for former Saskatchewan chief justice Edward Dmytro Bayda on April 10 in Regina. Bayda died suddenly on April 2 while vacationing with his wife, Lorraine Bethell, in Turkey. He was 78. The cause of death was not released. The ceremony was held at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church on Scarth Street, which was closed to traf- fic while a police escort led the motor- cade. Police officers from Regina and Saskatoon lined the church's steps as the pallbearers, which included members of the Regina Police Service and the RCMP, carried Bayda's casket into the church. In his honour, flags were at half-mast at the Legislative Building and government buildings throughout Regina. "Under his leadership, Rights will serve as his living legacy," current Saskatchewan Chief Justice John Klebuc said in a statement. Bayda grew up in the town of Alvena, Edward Bayda served as Saskatchewan's chief justice for 25 years. He passed away April 2. the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal and he, personally, made a great contribution to our constitutional jurisprudence, in particular," said Ed Ratushny, a professor emeritus of the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law and longtime friend of Bayda's, in his eulogy, reported The Regina Leader-Post. In an obituary for canadianlawyermag. com, Harold H. MacKay of MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP and a close friend of Bayda, recalls him as a bril- liant legal mind who "remained true to his Saskatchewan small-town roots — a down-to-earth man, approachable and convivial." "Ed will be remembered especially for his human touch, both on the bench and off it," wrote MacKay. "He had a soft heart and a gentle spirit, coupled with a steely determination to pursue those things he thought to be right." Friends and colleagues continued to share memories and praise Bayda after his funeral, recalling his contributions to the province of Saskatchewan and his charming sense of humour. "I knew him as a man of huge intellectual curiosity for the law and many other things — he was just a wonderful friend," Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin told the Leader-Post. "Among his many learned judgments, former chief justice Bayda's interpreta- tion and application of the Charter of the West A E-trials have arrived in Alberta fter centuries of lugging around inordinate amounts of paper, the Alberta courts have joined the 21st century and made the transition to electronic trials. In 2007, the Court of Queen's Bench issued its Civil Practice Note 14 to provide guidance to the legal profession and the public regarding the preparation, management, and electronic presentation of documentary evidence. Chief Justice Neil C. Wittmann says, "E-trials are a pretty new concept. The first three e-trials held in Alberta took place in 2009." Wittmann explains that www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M AY 2010 11 Sask. He attended the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and gradu- ated cum laude with a law degree in 1953. Upon graduation, Bayda articled with MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman in Regina. After undertaking a brief prac- tice in Yorkton, he moved back to Regina, and was one of the founding partners of the Johnson Bayda Halvorson and Scheibel firm. The firm produced four Superior Court judges, with Bayda being named the chief justice of the Court of Appeal in 1981 — the youngest chief justice, and the first of Ukrainian descent in Canadian history. He held the position until his retirement in 2006, upon which he returned to the private practice of law at Kanuka Thuringer LLP in Regina. Bayda, who was predeceased by his first wife Yvonne and his parents, is sur- vived by his wife Lorraine, seven chil- dren, 22 grandchildren, and six great- grandchildren. — BRYAN SMITH bsmith@clbmedia.ca COPYRIGHT 2006 THE LEADER-POST. USED WITH PERMISSION.