Rosetown-born prosecutor appointed to Provincial Court bench

By David McIver

A familiar face in southwest Saskatchewan’s legal community is heading to the bench.

The provincial government announced Feb. 17 the appointment of three new judges to the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan, including Rosetown-born Curtis Wiebe, who will serve in Prince Albert.

Curtis Wiebe, a Rosetown native and longtime Crown prosecutor in southwest Saskatchewan, has been appointed to the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan and will serve in Prince Albert. (Submitted photo)

Wiebe, 50, was born and raised in Rosetown. His parents both taught at Howard Powell School, midway between Rosetown and Biggar, before moving the family into Rosetown in 1972. They lived there until 2019.

A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan College of Law in 2002, Wiebe articled in North Battleford and was called to the bar in 2004.

He began his legal career with Saskatchewan Legal Aid before joining Kanuka Thuringer LLP in Regina in 2006, practising civil litigation, family and criminal law. He became a partner during his six years with the firm and was active with the Saskatchewan Trial Lawyers’ Association.

In 2012, Wiebe joined Public Prosecutions with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice and Attorney General as a Crown prosecutor. Most recently, he served as Regional Crown Prosecutor in Swift Current.

“I was Crown prosecutor since 2012 and I really did enjoy that,” Wiebe said in an interview.

Over the course of his career, he has appeared in provincial court, Court of King’s Bench and the Court of Appeal.

Wiebe said becoming a judge had been on his mind for some time.

“Certainly, you have to apply to be a judge, so you do put your name in,” he said. “I just did that fairly recently, about a year ago. It was one thing that was on my mind. So, to answer your question, I did aspire to be a judge. I put my name forward.”

Justice Minister and Attorney General Tim McLeod said in a news release the province’s judiciary will benefit from the experience each appointee brings.

“I am proud to announce the appointment of these three new judges to the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan,” McLeod said. “I am confident they will seamlessly transition to their new roles and serve their communities with the utmost professionalism.”

Also appointed were Sara Knowles in Saskatoon and Matthew Schmeling in Regina.

Beyond the courtroom, Wiebe has been active in community life, coaching school basketball and minor football, volunteering in his church and providing court tours for school groups.

“There is a course that the high school has, where students study law, they call me,” he said. “And some elementary schools as well. They want to see how court works. It’s not very often, a few times a year.”

He also acknowledged — with a laugh — a lesser-known pastime.

“Yeah, that’s very amateur,” he said of his time raising sheep. “I maybe shouldn’t have put that in but it’s a bit of a country flavour.”

Wiebe and his family have kept a small acreage north of Swift Current where they “putter away” with a few sheep.

The appointment will mean time spent away from home initially. With children still in school, Wiebe said he plans to rent a place in Prince Albert during the week and travel back and forth until the school year ends.

“It starts right away,” he said. “Our kids are still in school. We want them to finish out the year. So I’ll go back and forth for a little while. I’ll find a place to rent initially and stay there during the week. We’ll try to make that work.”