REGINA – A prominent figure in the legal and political life of Saskatchewan has passed away.
E. F. Anthony Merchant, better known as Tony Merchant, died on Oct. 13 after a battle with cancer. According to reports he was just short of his 81st birthday.
Merchant was best known as the founder of Merchant Law Group based in Regina, and was perhaps best known for class action litigation. He was involved in representing students in the $1.9 billion residential schools settlement in 2006, described as the largest class-action settlement in Canadian history.
But Merchant was also known as a prominent figure in Liberal party politics for years, serving briefly as an MLA and as a candidate for the provincial leadership, and later running unsuccessfully for Parliament.
Merchant was born in Yorkton in 1944 and is the son of Sally Merchant, who was a prominent television host on CFQC-TV in Saskatoon. He went on to earn degrees in economics and law from the University of Saskatchewan, and in administration from the University of Regina. He was admitted to practice in Saskatchewan in 1968, Alberta in 1976, British Columbia in 1977 and the state of Arizona in 1987.
According to his bio at the Merchant Law Group website, he was involved as Counsel in thousands of cases including at the trial level in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, North Dakota, Montana, Oregon, and the Northwest Territories; in trial and appeals in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Arizona as well as before Administrative Tribunals; and before the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada.
While Merchant is perhaps best known today for his class action work, he first made his name with extensive work in the family law field, and he has also acted as corporate counsel in a number of capacities throughout western Canada including as General Counsel with Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation. He has also been active in the immigration and First Nations Law areas.
His various memberships have included with the Canadian Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Trial Lawyers Association of America, the International Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the Trial Lawyers Association of Saskatchewan,and various others. In 1995 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel, and he has received several awards including the Queen’s Decoration 1976, the Canadian Long Service Medal 1984, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Decoration 2002, the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal 2005, the Decoration of Honour in Silver by the Nation of Austria 2006, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. He was twice awarded Eagle Feathers by First Nations in recognition of work on behalf of First Nations and residential school victims.
His activity has gone beyond the legal world. Merchant was also a radio commentator and a former open line radio host, as well as a former free-lance television interviewer.
He ran for the legislature and was elected Liberal member for Regina Wascana in 1975, and a year later ran for the provincial Liberal leadership, losing to Ted Malone.
Merchant left provincial politics to run federally for the Liberals, but was defeated in the 1979 and 1980 federal elections.
He also was involved in a famous high profile federal Liberal nomination battle in Wascana in 1993, losing the nomination to Ralph Goodale who went on to win the election. Merchant ran federally again in Palliser in 1997 but finished third in that race.
Merchant also had his share of controversy, in particular for his role in the Colin Thatcher case. He was found guilty of mischief in connection to an incident where he attempted to have Thatcher’s daughter surrendered to him following the death of Thatcher’s ex-wife JoAnne Wilson. Thatcher was later convicted of murdering Wilson.
The funeral for Merchant is set for next week.
