JOHN UNIACKE BAYLY

JOHN UNIACKE BAYLY, Q.C. Died suddenly of a heart attack February 17, 2004 while dog sledding with friends on Great Slave Lake. Survived by his loving wife of 36 years Cristine (Milani); their children Jennifer Bayly-Atkin (Jamie), Melissa McCrackin (Tyree), Tim (Kirsty), Katherine; their ward Siku Allooloo; grandsons Brody and Jared Atkin, Magnus and PK McCrackin; mother Fay, sister Ann (Keith Esplen), nieces Jessie and Skye, brother Richard (Cindi Thorpe) and many relatives, friends and business associates. Predeceased by his father, G.H.U. (Terk) Bayly, in 1998. John attended Upper Canada College and Trinity College School, graduating from North Toronto Collegiate Institute in 1964. He was the first president of the Innis College Student Society, obtaining his B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1967. He attended Osgoode Hall Law School, articled with Montgomery Cassels Somers Dutton & Winkler and was called to the bar in Ontario in 1973. His first legal position was in Thunder Bay as Assistant Crown Attorney. In January 1974 he moved his young family to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories to enter private practice with Brand & Company. He represented the Committee for Original Peoples Entitlement at the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (the Berger Inquiry) from 1974 to 1976. In 1978 John became the Director of Public Prosecutions with the Federal Department of Justice in Yellowknife. John was the first Executive Director of the N.W.T Legal Ser vices Board, responsible for the delivery of Legal Aid from 1979-1980. He represented the Dene Nation and Metis Association at the National Energy Board hearings into the application to build the oil pipeline from Norman Wells, NWT to Zama, Alberta in November 1979. He served as in-house counsel for the Dene Nation from 1980 to 1982 and counsel and negotiator for the Dene/Metis Negotiations Secretariat from 1981 to 1988 when the Dene/Metis Land Claim Agreement-in-Principle was signed. In 1983 John opened his own law practice, handling civil and criminal trial work, native rights law and environmental law files as well as a varied general practice. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1988. From 1995 to 2000 he was federal Chief Negotiator for the Beaufort/Delta self-government negotiations. In January 2000 he left Bayly Williams to become Principal Secretary to the Premier and Cabinet of the Northwest Territories. In November 2002, John opened the Yellowknife office as the resident partner for Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP a leading , Canadian business and litigation law firm. John had many other interests. He was Chancellor of the Diocese of the Arctic from 1993-2000 and served three terms as People's Warden, Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Yellowknife. He was twice President of the NWT Law Society, a member of the RCMP Complaints Commission from 1989-1999, a member of the Historical Sites and Monuments Board from 1988-1991, chair of the Denendeh Conservation Board, and board member of the International Commission on Folk Law and Legal Pluralism. He loved to write and was a member of two Yellowknife writers' groups. Recreational pursuits included long-distance dogsledding expeditions and many canoe, camping and hunting trips taken with family and friends in the arctic and sub-arctic. John was well known for his good humour, kindness, intelligence, high personal integrity, generosity and enjoyment of life. He will be greatly missed. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the N.W.T. Law Foundation, 5102 51st Avenue, Yellowknife, NT X1A 1S7 (867-873-8275)