Heather is a civil litigator and associate in the Regina office of Miller Thomson. She has appeared before the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board, the Bankruptcy Registrar, Provincial Court, Small Claims Court, the Court of Queen's Bench and the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Heather's civil litigation practice has a specific focus in health law, incapacity and elder law, guardianship applications, employment law with respect to wrongful dismissals, estate litigations, professional liability, replevin and insurance defence work.
Prior to entering into private practice, Heather had a career as a statistical advisor with Executive Council of Government of Saskatchewan and Statistics Canada and as an advisor to the Government of Saskatchewan. Heather has also consulted for litigation lawyers assessing pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages in personal injury and medical malpractice claims.
Heather entered her private practice as a litigation lawyers specializing in personal injury, health law, labour law and contract disputes. She was appointed as an advisor to the Government of Saskatchewan to Saskatchewan Justice and Attorney General. In her capacity as policy advisor, Heather was involved in developing all legislation, strategic communication plans, policy initiatives and business proposals. The experience that she gained through this work proved to be a great asset and has enabled Heather to provide strategic legal and business advice to clients in many sectors.
Heather's career has provided her with an ability to exercise sound judgment and to provide legal and business solutions in complex legal and business environments.
Heather is a life-long resident of Saskatchewan, loves to travel, has a commitment to continued learning and enjoys classic cars, antiques and archaeology.
Representative Work
· Heather appeared before the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal to clarify the application of Part 34 of the Queen's Bench Rules of Saskatchewan to the remedy of replevin.
· Heather's work in health law, incapacity and elder law enabled her to undertake complex contested guardianship applications for severely physically and mentally challenged dependent adults.
· Involved in several seldom-ordered long-term mental health detention orders at the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench.
· Assisted lead counsel at a second degree murder trial which challenged the medical examiner's determination of cause of death, resulting in an acquittal.
· Previous work in the Ministry of Health allowed Heather to be involved in: restructuring the province's health districts into Regional Health Authorities and implementing new board and governance models for the new health regions; establishing the first provincial Health Quality Council in Canada; developing and enacting the first legislation, regulations and reporting protocols in Canada for Critical Incident Reporting in Saskatchewan's health care system; overseeing the international public reporting of the first incidents of West Nile disease and the first (v) Kreutzfeld-Jacob fatality in Canada; developing the country's first province-wide "Action Plan for Health Care", a long-term strategic health care plan for the province, a model which was followed by every other province in Canada in subsequent years; and in developing the Saskatchewan Surgical Wait Time Initiative and Diagnostic Wait Time Initiative to assess surgical and diagnostic throughput and reduce surgical and diagnostic wait times in the province.
· Participated in organizing the first international conference with the California and United States Drug Enforcement Agencies and the ministries of Justice and Attorneys General of Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and B.C. to stop the manufacture and trafficking of illegal drugs in Western Canada, California and the northern United States.
· Attending with the first Canadian provincial delegations at the United States Conference of Western Attorneys General, an association comprised of current and emeritus Attorneys General and Governors of all states in the U.S., and organizing an affiliated Canadian branch as the Canadian liaison counsel.
· Assisted in developing the S.H.O.C.A.P. initiative to reduce youth crime in the province and target habitual young offenders.
· Advisor to the Government of Saskatchewan for the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General, Crown Investments Corporation including Saskatchewan Government Insurance, Sask Power, Sask Energy and SaskTel and Investments Saskatchewan, the Seniors' Directorate, the Disabilities Directorate and the Ministry of Health including the Regional Health Authorities, Saskatchewan Association of Health Organizations and the Cancer Clinics.
Directorships
· Director, Government Relations for Saskatchewan Telecommunications Corporation
Community Involvement
· Regina Women's Immigration Centre
· United Way
· Regina Antique Auto Association
· University of Regina Alumni Association
· Women's Legal Education Fund (L.E.A.F.)
Memberships
· Member, Canadian Bar Association
· Member, Law Society of Saskatchewan
· Member, Regina Bar Association
· Member, Saskatchewan Trial Lawyers Association
Industry Expertise
Health
Communications and Telecommunications
Insurance