I don't know what would be normal for a community the size of Yorkton, but it seems to me that this city has contributed an unusually high number of judges to the legal system of our country.

In 1998 at a French immersion seminar for justices held in Quebec, Judge Jamie Saunders of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia was keeping a list of the judges who were born or raised in Yorkton.

Judge Saunders was born in Yorkton. His parents, Jean and Jim, were from Nova Scotia but had come to Yorkton where Jim was employed by the Hudson Bay Company, which at one time operated in the grand old building now occupied by Hurst's Furniture at the corner of Broadway and Second Avenue, and later in what is now the Dowie's Stationery building on Second Ave.

They subsequently returned to Nova Scotia.

On checking around, he found that the following judges from across Canada have that common connection to Yorkton:

Hon. Brian Dickson, former Chief Justice of Canada, recently deceased;

Hon. Willard Estey, retired from the Supreme Court of Canada;

Hon. Madam Georgina Jackson of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal;

Hon. Madam Constance Hunt of the Alberta Court of Appeal, who now also sits on the Nunavut Court of Appeal;

Hon. Mr. Justice Jim Shabbits of the British Columbia Supreme Court;

Hon. Madam Justice Nancy Morrison of the British Columbia Supreme Court;

Judge Linton Smith, Senior Judge of the Saskatchewan Provincial Court.

An impressive list of legal talent to have been produced by our community.

Judge Morrison of the Supreme Court of British Columbia has been asked to speak at a Women Judges' Conference in Beijing, China. She will be speaking on Women and Labor Laws.

The National Women Judges Institute of Canada is putting on the conference for the Women Judges of China from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3.

Attending this conference will be two or three women judges from each of the 30 districts in China.

Nancy, who has strong ties to Yorkton where her father was a lawyer (whose practice was in the buidling now bearing the name Morrison Place on Fourth Ave., is a much sought after speaker, especially on women's issues.

Recently ran across a letter I received at the Chamber of Commerce office in 1995 from a teacher in Winnipeg.

Apparently she had asked her second grade class to write where they would like to visit.

In typical grade two spelling this little six year old wrote, "I want to got to afrca (Africa) and cinea (China) and Japan and astraleae (Australia) and yorktin (Yorkton) and huwice (Hawaii)."

The teacher went on to say she thought the Chamber would be happy to know about Yorkton's importance to a six-year-old in Winnipeg.

The letter really made my day.