The Honourable Dwight Ball, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, today announced the retention of former Provincial Court Judge James Igloliorte to provide input on the nature, scope and mechanisms of the Inquiry into Ground Search and Rescue for Lost and Missing Persons in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Originally from Hopedale, Labrador, Judge Igloliorte was appointed as Lay Magistrate in Goose Bay at the Provincial Court in 1980, and was appointed as the Provincial Court Judge responsible for the Happy Valley-Goose Bay Court a year later. Judge Igloliorte was a member of the Labrador Inuit Comprehensive Land Claims negotiation team, as well as the sole Commissioner for the Qikiqtani Truth Commission from 2007 to 2010. A full biography can be found in the backgrounder below.
Details on the inquiry process will be released in the fall once the inquiry is formally established. The Inquiry into Ground Search and Rescue for Lost and Missing Persons in Newfoundland and Labrador is not expected to exceed six months.
Quotes
“I am pleased Judge Igloliorte is commencing work so we can proceed with the inquiry into ground search and rescue in this province. This inquiry will examine the adequacy of the existing system, and identify gaps that need to be addressed. I hope all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians take advantage of the opportunity to participate.”
Honourable Dwight Ball
Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador
“Search and rescue continues to be an issue of provincial and national importance and one we take quite seriously. While considerable strides have been made in the province with respect to search and rescue, there is always room for improvement. I thank Judge Igloliorte for taking on this new role and look forward to his final report, which will no doubt help save lives.”
Honourable Andrew Parsons
Minister of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General
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Justice and Public Safety
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BACKGROUNDER
Biography for the Honourable James Igloliorte
James Igloliorte of Hopedale, Newfoundland and Labrador is a retired Provincial Court Judge. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science and a Bachelor of Education from Memorial University, Newfoundland in 1974. He and his wife, Linda Carter, then started their career as teachers on the west coast of Newfoundland at St. James School in Lark Harbour, Bay of Islands. Mr. Igloliorte has lived in Newfoundland and Labrador his whole life.
Appointed first as a Lay Magistrate in 1980, he took responsibility of the Labrador Court and Circuit System and then completed law school at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1985. He then returned to take up duties in Happy Valley-Goose Bay as a circuit judge, a position which he held for the majority of his career. James Igloliorte was a 1999 National Aboriginal Achievement Award recipient in the category of Law and Justice. He stepped down from the bench in 2004.
James Igloliorte is a past Labrador Director with the Innu Healing Foundation and was a commissioner with the Royal Commission on Renewing and Strengthening Our Place in Canada. He has also worked as Newfoundland and Labrador’s Child and Youth Advocate and was Commissioner of the Qikiqtani Truth Commission in Nunavut. In 2003 he received an Honourary Doctorate from Memorial University of Newfoundland, made all the more memorable because it was the same week in which singer-songwriter Ron Hynes was also recognized. He presently sits as a Board Member of the McLean Day School Settlement Corporation and is a Reconciliation Officer of the Sixties Scoop Settlement Agreement.
James Igloliorte and his wife, Linda Carter, live in St. John’s and have four children and five grandchildren.