It is with sadness that I write about the passing of the Honourable Judge Hugh Stansfield, Chief Justice of the Provincial Court of British Columbia. He passed away yesterday at 57 years old and leaves behind a wife and four sons, men who I hope are like their father.
Many professional colleagues will write of his fairness, his devotion to his ideals and his sense of fair play, good nature and quest to make the courts more accessible and understandable for the public. They will write about his quest to implement a downtown community court to deal with habitual offenders, a project that came to fruition this year. Many of them will write about his defence of judges and their discrection in sentencing. There is not much I can add to that, other echoing those comments.
I articled in the Kelowna area in 2003. As one of only two articling students in the region, I was often surrounded by counsel who were not interested in assisting young counsel (the converse of that, of couse, are the now-lifelong friends who did assist and guide, all of whom I'm grateful for) but the Honourable Judge Stansfield never failed to stop and talk to me. When on the bench, he was unfailingly patient and polite. Three days after my call to the bar, I was in Kelowna and he asked to speak to me in Chambers. When I arrived in Chambers, he congratulated me on my call and asked me what I planned to do. I discussed my future plans and what I was looking forward to. He listened to me.
The greatest gift that someone in a position of power or authority can bestow is respect and kindness. I hope the Honourable Judge Stansfield knew that I appreciated every minute he ever gave to me. I hope that I can always carry that standard forward to students, articling students and junior counsel.
I also hope he secretly knew that a lot of the Kelowna Registry staff called him "Judge Clooney" for his good looks, smile and affable nature. I hope it pleased him.
My thoughts and sympathies are with his family.
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