Shannon Metivier knows her new job will present some enormous challenges, but she prefers to think of them as opportunities.
Metivier is the new chief judge of the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan, which handles most of the criminal charges laid in the province and other matters such as bylaws, traffic court and small claims.
Justice Minister Gord Wyant appointed her to the role last year, and Metivier formally took the helm in March, almost exactly eight years after first donning the black robes with blue facings worn by provincial court judges.
In her new role, the former civil litigator plans to continue hearing cases while at the same time administering a court consisting of more than 50 judges, 13 permanent locations and 61 “circuit points” in small communities.