NILSON PAYS TRIBUTE TO RETIRED CHIEF JUSTICE, BRIAN DICKSON

Released on October 20, 1998

Justice Minister John Nilson today expressed condolences to the family

of retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Brian

Dickson, who died Saturday, October 17, 1998, at his home outside

Ottawa.



"It is important to pay tribute to the life and achievements of a

great Canadian, who was born and raised in Saskatchewan," Nilson said.



"During his time on the Supreme Court, he wrote an astonishing number

of landmark decisions, in all areas of the law. He will be remembered

for his knowledge of the law, his breadth of vision, the clarity of

his reasoning and his empathy for the individual."



Robert George Brian Dickson was born in Yorkton in 1916. He grew up

in various towns in Saskatchewan and attended school at Regina

Collegiate Institute. Dickson attended the University of Manitoba,

and earned his law degree in 1938.



Dickson fought in World War II and served from 1940-45 and sustained a

serious injury in the war.



Following the war, Dickson returned to Winnipeg to practise law. He

was also a lecturer at the College of Law.



In 1963, he was appointed to the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench. In

1967, he was elevated to the Manitoba Court of Appeal, and in 1973 he

was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, replacing

Justice Hall, who had retired. In 1984, upon the death of Chief

Justice Laskin, Dickson was appointed Chief Justice of Canada, a post

he held until his retirement in 1990.



"Although Chief Justice Dickson wrote decisions on a great number

of issues, it is his work on constitutional law that is

particularly impressive," Nilson said.



Dickson was on the Supreme Court during two crucial periods in

Canada's constitutional history: the debate over the patriation

of Canadian constitution from Great Britain, and then the initial

years of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.



"In both areas, his sense of balance and fairness stood out,"

Nilson said. "Chief Justice Dickson served his country well in

war, at great personal cost, and in peace, to the benefit of us

all."



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For more information, contact:



Warren Bickford

Saskatchewan Justice

Regina

Phone: (306)787-8606