Wilbur Roy Jackett, (June 27, 1912 – September 10, 2005) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

scholar, public servant, jurist, and the first chief justice of the

Federal Court of Canada The Federal Court of Canada, which succeeded the Exchequer Court of Canada in 1971, was a national court of Canada that had limited jurisdiction to hear certain types of disputes arising under the federal government's legislative jurisdiction. ...

. Born in Tompkins,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, Jackett moved with his family to

Kamsack, Saskatchewan Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada is a town in the Assiniboine River Valley, where the Whitesand River joins the Assiniboine River. It is northeast of Yorkton. Highway 8 and Highway 5 intersect in the town. Coté First Nation is located north and ...

in 1920 at the age of eight. After graduating from high school in Kamsack, Jackett graduated with degrees in both Arts and Laws from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. In 1933 he was elected a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and went to study at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was called to the Bar of Saskatchewan. From 1957 to 1960, he was the Eighth Deputy Minister of the Department of Justice. In 1960 he became general counsel for the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

. He was later appointed president of the

Exchequer Court of Canada In the civil service of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Exchequer, or just the Exchequer, is the accounting process of central government and the government's '' current account'' (i.e., money held from taxation and other government reve ...

. He was the First Chief Justice of the

from 1971 until 1979. On 9 May 1958, he was awarded an

honorary An honorary position is one given as an honor, with no duties attached, and without payment. Other uses include: * Honorary Academy Award, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, United States * Honorary Aryan, a status in Nazi Germany ...

DCL from the University of Saskatchewan. In 1981, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

References

* * 1912 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Canadian civil servants Canadian Rhodes Scholars Officers of the Order of Canada Judges in Saskatchewan Lawyers in Saskatchewan Canadian King's Counsel University of Saskatchewan alumni People from Kamsack, Saskatchewan University of Saskatchewan College of Law alumni Judges of the Exchequer Court of Canada Judges of the Federal Court of Canada {{Canada-law-bio-stub