John M. Scurfield, (November 27, 1951 – November 14, 2009), styled The Honourable Mr. Justice was a Canadian judge. Scurfield was born in

Manitou, Manitoba Manitou is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Pembina within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. The Boundary Trail Railway is based in Manitou. The community's motto is "More T ...

, the second of four children to his late parents William Edward Scurfield (a lawyer), and Cynthia May Scurfield (née Beamish). He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Law Society of Manitoba The Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) is the self-governing regulatory body of the legal profession in Manitoba, Canada. Membership in the LSM is required in order to practice law in the province. , the LSM had 2072 members with active practising s ...

the following year. He is a Past President and Life Bencher of the Law Society of Manitoba. Scurfield was appointed

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 ...

in 1989. He was appointed a judge of the

Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench The Court of King's Bench of Manitoba (french: Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba)—or the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, depending on the monarch—is the superior court of the Canadian province of Manitoba. The court is divided into tw ...

on July 16, 2002. He replaced Madam Justice Ruth Krindle, who resigned. Prior to his appointment, he was a partner with the

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 ...

law firm of Scurfield, Tapper, Cuddy. He practiced in the areas of commercial litigation,

employment law Labour laws (also known as labor laws or employment laws) are those that mediate the relationship between workers, employing entities, trade unions, and the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee, ...

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of Forms of government, government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are gener ...

, personal injury claims and

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

. Throughout his career, Scurfield has undertaken

arbitration Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...

and

mediation Mediation is a structured, interactive process where an impartial third party neutral assists disputing parties in resolving conflict through the use of specialized communication and negotiation techniques. All participants in mediation are ...

of commercial and labour disputes and has acted as

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

or commission counsel on various inquiries.

References

Government of Canada News Release
(accessed August 1, 2007)

1951 births 2009 deaths Judges in Manitoba University of Manitoba alumni People from Manitou, Manitoba Canadian King's Counsel Robson Hall alumni {{Canada-law-bio-stub