True lover of justice and people

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This article was published 16/11/2009 (6044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of Manitoba’s most high-profile and well-liked judges has died.

Court of Queen’s Bench Judge John M. Scurfield died Saturday morning after a lengthy fight with melanoma cancer. He was 57.

Scurfield was born in Manitou in southwestern Manitoba. His father Bill was the town lawyer and used to take John along when he did a rural circuit of Crown prosecutions.

Scurfield attended school early and skipped Grade 2 so when he attended university he was just 16 years old.

As a lawyer, he became a partner with law firm Wolch Pinx Tapper Scurfield. He started doing labour-management arbitrations and then became a prominent mediator in 1995. That was when he mediated an end to the 23-day University of Manitoba professors’ strike.

Scurfield also wrote the scathing exposé of the city’s property assessment department in the late 1990s. He headed a provincial review of public school teacher salaries to determine the fairest mechanism for pay based on merit.

He is also a former Manitoba Liberal Party president.

Scurfield was appointed a judge with the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench in 2002.

Scurfield served as judge in many high-profile trials. Most recently, he found Vince Li not criminally responsible for the July 2008 killing of 22-year-old Tim McLean. In May 2007, Scurfield handed down a near-precedent-setting sentence to Hells Angel Ian Grant. He gave Grant 15 years in prison, a $118,000 fine and the forfeiture of an additional $63,000 cash, seen as one of the stiffest ever for drug crimes in Manitoba.

His melanoma began when he was 40 and he had a recurrence the past few years.

Scurfield described himself as a people person, in a 1997 interview with the Free Press. “I genuinely like people. Some people are aloof and alone. I generally see good things in almost everyone I meet,” he said.

“He was a happy guy,” said sister, Dr. Carol Scurfield. “He was a bit of a joker. He loved to fish. Fishing was his favourite hobby. He loved the cottage at Shoal Lake.”

Despite his hectic schedule, Scurfield also coached hockey and ringette. John’s other siblings include Free Press advice columnist Maureen Scurfield and Bill Scurfield, a businessman and developer.

He is survived by his wife Susan Wortzman, also a lawyer, and children Paul, twins Jane and Sara, and Jack.

The service called a Celebration of His Life will be held Tuesday at 1 p.m. at the Hotel Fort Garry Conference Centre.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca