The honourable judge Karen Walker.

In a move widely appreciated by the criminal bar, Attorney General Wally Oppal has made our colleague Karen Walker one of his first judicial appointments. Unfortunately for those of us toiling in Vancouver, Karen will be sitting in Prince George and environs. Vancouver's loss is Prince George's gain, as there is no doubt that Judge Walker's considerable talents and pleasant demeanour will be appreciated by all, or at least most, who appear before her.

Karen has a great ability to deal with all walks of life in a fair and equitable manner. Of course, that is in part due to her somewhat peripatetic background. The daughter of a Canadian Forces pilot, she grew up in such diverse communities as Ottawa, Mont Jolie, Montreal, Tofino and Richmond prior to her graduation from Steveston High School back in 1971. Subsequently, and in between her various travels, Karen took journalism courses at Langara and obtained a B.A. at Simon Fraser University, a master's degree in library sciences and ultimately her LL.B. at the University of British Columbia. It was during her career as a librarian that Karen's interest in the law blossomed. She developed this interest while setting up a library at the old Lakeside Correctional Centre for Women, and then subsequently in her stint as a law librarian at the courthouse library in Vancouver. Counsel should be warned: there will be no bluffing Judge Walker when it comes to legal argument.

After graduation from law school in 1986, Karen articled with the esteemed criminal lawyers Bolton & Muldoon. She stayed there for an additional year prior to sharing offices with equally esteemed counsel Howard Rubin, Q.C., George Goyer, Q.C., and Miriam Maisonville. Karen subsequently joined another excellent criminal lawyer, Brian Coleman, Q.C., forming the law firm of Coleman Walker and practising for a number of years in Gaoler's Mews in Vancouver. In hindsight, it would clearly appear that another of Judge Walker's talents is knowing who to work with. One can only assume that she used that same foresight in agreeing to accept her appointment to the Provincial Court bench and sit in Prince George. Of course, it should also be pointed out that Karen once worked as Crown counsel as well. In addition to her various types of employment, and perhaps more significant to members of the criminal bar, Karen was a long-time organizer of the now infamous East End Bar Dinner.

During her career as a criminal lawyer, Karen handled many major cases, including murders, drug conspiracies and the like. One of her first long trials was before His Honour Judge S. Romilly, as he then was. The case included a cast of characters, including the very talented counsel John Banks, who famously told Judge Romilly during the course of argument that His Honour "was making me feel like a one-legged man at an ass-kicking contest". The equally talented late Ken Young, Q.C., was also counsel in the case, seated directly in front of Karen. It was then that Karen developed her dislike of overly tight seersucker suits. Again, counsel in Prince George should be warned! As an aside, it should be noted that Karen's client was one of only two acquitted in the case.

It was in 1995, while at the Commodore Ballroom with another unnamed judicial colleague, Karen met her future husband, Peter Hovestad. They were married in 1996, and have managed to stay that way quite happily. As is quite common these days in Vancouver, the couple have two children, Alex and Molly, who if truth be told are actually dogs. Karen has somehow miraculously escaped being the subject of a number of dog-bite cases over the years, as Alex was a difficult child, but luckily he seems to have mellowed with age. As is true of all parents, Karen and Peter have turned many a blind eye.

Karen has been particularly fortunate in her choice of husband. Karen and Peter's shared interests include art, music, the outdoors, cooking, home renovation and perhaps above all, gardening. Again, Vancouver's loss is Prince George's gain. It is to be expected that the local garden shops will reap a bonanza with this appointment, as Karen and Peter learn the benefits of "zone" gardening.

Judge Walker is no stranger to the north. Since 2000, she has appeared on a number of occasions in the courts on the Queen Charlotte Islands, a location Vancouverites consider even further afield than her appointment now takes her. In fact, she was so pleased by her appointment to Prince George that she was totally unperturbed by missing out on the more to her newly purchased West Vancouver residence. Instead, she immediately and enthusiastically set about purchasing a house in her new home town, where she tells those of us who are missing her that she has settled in quite comfortably.

Not as unperturbed by the more were Karen's, now former office mates, Debra Carpentier, Mary Childs, Susan Daniells, Q.C., and Leslie Ann Wall. Since Karen's departure, no one in the office has been able to operate certain pieces of equipment, apparently another area of Judge Walker's expertise. Aside from the technical aspects, Karen will be sorely missed by her colleagues. However, the reasons for which she will be missed are also no doubt the reasons for which she has been deservedly appointed: her intelligence, thoughtfulness, independence, compassion and wit. These will take her far in her new career, and there is no doubt that Judge Walker will be well respected by both sides of the bar in her new home.