A noted Saskatoon lawyer and politician has passed away.
Morris Bodnar, who represented the riding of Saskatoon–Dundurn in the House of Commons from 1993 to 1997 as a member of the Liberal Party, died on Friday at the age of 77.
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Bodnar, who was born in the Saskatchewan village of Prud’Homme in 1948, attended the University of Saskatchewan, where he met his wife Joyce. They were married in 1972 and raised three children during their 53-year marriage.
After graduating with an arts degree and a law degree, Bodnar practiced criminal law in the Bridge City for five decades. According to his obituary, his time as a lawyer was “grounded in a deeply held conviction that a society based on the rule of law only works when everyone has access to legal defense. He believed that fairness, dignity, and opportunity should not depend on circumstance.”
He retired in 2022 after a career which saw him participate in many high-profile trials and a provincial inquiry, and argue two cases before Canada’s Supreme Court. One of Bodnar’s final high-profile cases was the Greg Fertuck murder trial in Saskatoon. Bodnar represented Fertuck before he was dismissed, and Fertuck was ultimately convicted in the murder of his ex wife after choosing to represent himself.
“He regarded the opportunity to serve as an MP as one of the great honours of his lifetime and approached the role with the same seriousness, humility, and sense of responsibility that defined his legal career,” his obituary noted.
A celebration of Bodnar’s life is to be held on Friday at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel from 1-4 p.m.
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