By Michael Joel-Hansen

Prince Albert lawyer taking on important role for Saskatchewan

Oct 23, 2018 | 2:00 PM

A Prince Albert lawyer will be taking on new role with an important provincial commission.

Barry Wilcox, who practices law with Novus Law Group, was announced as the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission newest deputy chief commissioner Tuesday morning.

At a media conference at the Novus Law Group’s office in Prince Albert, the commission’s chief commissioner David Arnot had high praise for the Prince Albert-based lawyer.

“We’re very honoured to have Barry as our deputy chief commissioner,” he said.

Arnot explained Wilcox’s skill set as a lawyer will serve the commission well as it carries out its mandate.

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“He has expertise in the law, he has expertise in policy and policy making, he has expertise in the business community and importantly at our work he has expertise in mediation, which is the process we use to settle most of the complaints in Saskatchewan,” he said.

The chief commissioner explained Wilcox was part of a transition which was made a number of years ago, when the commission made an important change in how it operated. Where previously it operated on an infraction and reaction prosecution model, it changed course to a different model.

“We’re fundamentally focused with a new ethos, which is problem solving and creating an appropriate case resolution for every circumstance,” Arnot said.  

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission has a broad mandate. Chief among its mandate is to investigate and resolve human rights complaints and seek remedies for people and groups who have been discriminated against.

Wilcox has worked with the commission since 2011, serving as a commissioner. Besides switching its approach in how it deals with disputes, there has also been a broadening of the organization’s mandate which he has been part of.

“We have expanded our mandate to include education and to have the younger citizens of our province exposed to not only their rights, but their responsibilities,” Wilcox said.

The new deputy chief commissioner said he was happy with the approach the current provincial government took in regards to the legislation which governs the commission and the work it does.

“When we changed the direction of the commission, it was necessary for this government to enact some changes to the legislation to broaden the scope of the commission and clearly through those changes, this government is committed to protecting the rights of the citizens of Saskatchewan,” he said.

According to Wilcox, Saskatchewan’s human rights commission is one other jurisdictions have been looking to model themselves after. This includes the national human rights commission and ones in Europe.     

“The Saskatchewan human rights commission has become a worldwide model for the operation and expansion of (the) job of human rights commissions all over the world,” he said.

Wilcox said he will continue to practice law with Novus Law Group.

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn