The federal Crown prosecutor for the Bow Valley has received the honourable distinction of Queen’s Counsel this month.
Anita Szabo, who prosecutes all federal cases in the area, including drug charges and breaches of the National Parks Act, said the new title and its accompanying silk robes are an honour to receive.
“It is a recognition of your expertise in a particular area, that your peers recognize you and also of your contribution to the legal profession and volunteering in the community,” Szabo said. “It’s an overall package.”
The honour is handed out by the solicitor general’s department every two years and the distinction makes Szabo the second Bow Valley lawyer to be able to put QC behind her name, with the first being Dale Fedorchuk.
She said it is another rung on the ladder of her career as a lawyer after being admitted to the bar in 1983. While it is a bigger distinction in England, where it gives meaning to the expression “taking silk,” she said “it is nice to have that respect that I know what I am doing.”
Szabo has been the federal Crown in Canmore and Banff for the past six years after moving here and was in charge of prosecutions for the City of Calgary prior to that.
She has also been the RCMP in-house defence counsel and articled with the provincial Crown’s office before graduating law school from the University of Calgary.
That’s not all of her professional history, as Szabo spent five years as defence council and was in-house counsel for the Alberta Law Society before travelling overseas to teach for three years in Hong Kong and one year in Australia.
When she returned to Canada, Szabo wrote a manual for the RCMP on how to investigate sexual offences before practicing in Banff for a while and then becoming RCMP counsel.
Within the community, she has been very active with youth who are interested in entertainment and, in particular, singing.
She has organized concerts for young performers and the local junior idol competition.
Szabo’s community interests also extend to starting up a water polo league once the Multiplex aquatics facility is completed and she has starred in several Pine Tree Players productions.
Currently, she is directing a one-act play for the upcoming Pine Tree show Trouble is a Bubble, which also stars her articling student-at-law Adam Zelmer.
Szabo said the law has a long history in her family, with her brother and father also practicing. Even her niece Danielle is a federal Crown prosecutor and articled under Szabo here in the Bow Valley before being called to the bar.
“I love my job and I love living in Canmore,” she said. “I have wanted to live in the valley since I was a child.
“This is probably the last job of my career and it is a great one that is challenging and there is a great legal community here to work with.”
