S. Dev Dley (born 1950/1951) is a Canadian lawyer and judge. From 1996 to 2000, he served as commissioner of the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

(WHL). He was later elected Chair of the Law Foundation of B.C., which he held until 2010, when he was promoted to the

Supreme Court of British Columbia Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown-e ...

Career

After earning his law degree from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

in 1978, Dley began a private law practice which lasted until 1996. He also served as legal counsel of the

(WHL) for five years before he was promoted to commissioner in 1995. During his time as commissioner, he dealt with a sexual abuse case regarding Sheldon Kennedy and coach Graham James. In response to criticisms for lack of action, Dley stated that the league had not conducted an investigation because there had been no formal complaint about the assault. However, he later promised to hire a counseling agency for players in the league, as a result of the case. While discussions on extension of his contract with the league were ongoing, he also sat on the National Junior Team Policy Committee which appointed head coaches for 1999 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. Dley was an advocate for the league to expand into

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and planned on hosting discussions with interested parties in January 2000. Despite rumors to the contrary, Dley's contract was not renewed; he was replaced by

Ron Robison Ron Robison (born 1955) is a Canadian ice hockey executive, who has served as the commissioner of the Western Hockey League (WHL) since September 15, 2000. He previously worked in senior managerial roles for the Canadian Hockey Association and ...

in 2000. After his time as commissioner, Dley was appointed to the

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of ...

and sat as director on the B.C. Traffic Safety Foundation. In 2008, he was named Chair of the Law Foundation of B.C., a position he held until his appointment as a Justice of the

in 2010.

Memberships and affiliations

Dley served two terms as vice president of the

Social Credit Party of Canada The Social Credit Party of Canada (french: Parti Crédit social du Canada), colloquially known as the Socreds, was a populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform. It was the federal wing of the Canadi ...

Personal life

Dley is a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dley, Dev Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Judges in British Columbia Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian Hockey League executives Canadian sports executives and administrators Hockey Canada personnel Ice hockey people from British Columbia Sports commissioners Sportspeople from Kamloops University of Victoria alumni Western Hockey League