(file photo/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Judges appointed

Two new Provincial Court judges appointed in Prince Albert

Dec 22, 2024 | 12:00 PM

Prince Albert has two new Provincial Court judges, the province announced Friday afternoon.

Lori O’Connor and Buffy Rogers will take the bench. Cynthia Alexander was appointed in Regina.

“It is a privilege to announce the appointment of these three new judges to the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Tim McLeod said. “Saskatchewan prides itself on its record of appointing highly skilled legal professionals to our judiciary, and I am confident these new appointees to the Provincial Court will carry on this tradition in their communities.”

O’Connor graduated from Dalhousie University in 2008 and was called to the bar a year later. She worked at Legal Aid in Thompson, Manitoba, staying on until 2010 when she moved to the Public Prosecutions. In 2019, O’Connor was appointed the Regional Crown Prosecutor in Melfort.

Along with extensive experience in criminal law, O’Connor mentors law students through Dalhousie Law School’s Weldon Mentor Matching Program. She also provided testimony and court training to various groups and has written book reviews for the Canadian Law Library Review that appear in Canlii.

Waiting for a decision

Verdict reserved for Mistawasis murder case

5h ago

Narrow Loss

North Stars drop close battle in Kindersley

Dec 21, 2024

Politics

Singh says NDP will bring forward a non-confidence motion to bring government down

Dec 20, 2024

Outside of her professional life, she bakes banana bread for the Melfort Food Bank and enjoys walking her dog.

Judge Rogers took the law program at the University of Saskatchewan and was called to the bar in 1999. The same year she completed her articles with Wardell, Worme & Missens and stayed there as a junior lawyer until 2001.

She has provided counsel to Legal Aid Saskatchewan and became a partner at Wardell Driedger Cotton & Rodgers, later Wardell Gillis Tangjerd Rodgers & Cotton before switching to public prosecutions in 2006. She became a senior Crown Prosecutor in 1007 and held a position as the senior crown for OH & S since 2015.

Even with a speciality in OH & S, Rodgers has expertise in criminal defense, child protection, civil law, small claims and legal aid, spending a lot of time in docket and trial court.

Judge Rodgers is a past Secretary of the Saskatchewan Crown Attorneys Association and is a recipient of the Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Public Service for her work on the Serious Violent Offender Response Team.

The third judge appointed, but in Regina, still has strong Prince Albert connections.

Alexander received her Bachelor of Laws from the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 1996 and was called to the Bar in 1997. She completed her articles with Woloshyn & Company (now W Law) in Regina, where she remained as an Associate Lawyer until 2000. Judge Alexander then took a position as a Crown Prosecutor with Public Prosecutions in Prince Albert, and became a Senior Crown Prosecutor there in 2008. In 2022, she moved to the Head Office of Public Prosecutions in Regina as the Director of Professional Development.

Judge Alexander has spent the majority of her career prosecuting criminal matters in Provincial Court and the Court of King’s Bench. She has developed expertise in criminal procedure, trial advocacy and rules of evidence.

She mentored prosecutors, articled students, and summer students within the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General and has also lectured at the University of Regina, the Saskatchewan Police College and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Outside of work, Judge Alexander and her husband have raised two sons. She enjoys music and travelling, and has volunteered with the Prince Albert Music Festival and the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival.

—

susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social