Algoma District's newest judge is the third member of her family to sit on the bench.
Dana Peterson is following in the footsteps of her grandfather and great- grandfather.
During a swearing-in ceremony Thursday at the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse, the former Crown prosecutor became a judge in the Ontario Court of Justice.
Peterson is assigned to Elliot Lake, and will also sit in a satellite court in Blind River, as well as Espanola in the Sudbury District.
Her great-grandfather Nolton Peterson hung out his shingle in Bruce Mines in 1899 and began practising law throughout Algoma.
He later was appointed a magistrate for the district.
His son Harold joined the practice in 1945 and two years later took on the role of magistrate, serving Blind River and Elliot Lake.
In 1967, he was appointed a provincial judge of the criminal division.
The new judge's mother and father are both lawyers, and a maternal uncle Clifford Boyd, was named a judge in the Sault Ste. Marie provincial court criminal division in 1965 and served until 1989.
Peterson's swearing-in was the first in-person ceremony in the province since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.
The large second-floor courtroom was filled with masked guests for the ceremony presided over by Chief Justice Lisa Maisonneuve.
Members of the local legal community, including judges of both the Superior and Ontario Courts of Justice, justices of the peace, defence lawyers, and prosecutors, joined family and friends to welcome Peterson to the bench.
The speakers characterized her as dedicated, empathetic, respectful, passionate, kind and open-minded.
The new judge was lauded as a talented litigator with a fine skill set, who is "destined to do good things."
Her former boss, director of Crown operations Kelly Weeks, described her as fantastiic prosecutor, who showed fairness, justice and dignity.
Peterson "always demonstrated empathy and respect for all participants in the justice system, " she said. "You have an unique ability .... to stay focused."
Weeks added "our loss is a gain for the entire system of justice.
Peterson joined the local Crown's office in 2002 after she was called to the bar.
As an assistant Crown attorney, she was responsible for domestic violence, mental health and youth specialized courts.
She established a youth justice committee in Algoma District as an extrajudicial measures program.
Peterson also integrated as aspects of mental health, drug treatment and alternative courts into the community court program in Sault Ste. Marie which now focuses on diversion and alternatives to incarceration.
More recently, Peterson served as north region sexual violence Crown and as a member of the sexual violence advisory group, which aims to improve the quality of prosecutions for sexual violence by preparing education materials and providing guidance to prosecutors, police and service providers in criminal justice.
She served as Algoma District's designated bilingual assistant Crown since 2017. Former Crown attorney Glen Wasyliniuk was guest speaker at the ceremony.
"Dana I know you were good but I didn't think you were that great," he joked, after hearing what other speakers had to say about the new judge.
"But it's true and I think I'm responsible because I hired her."
He recalled that Peterson "interviewed well" when she applied for a job in the Crown's office.
She had "all the academic qualifications and a burning desire to be in and work in Sault Ste. Marie."
It all worked out, he said, looking around the crowded courtroom.
Wasyliniuk talked about her legal lineage, recalling days when as a young lawyer he appeared before her late grandfather "a rather imposing man" and her late uncle (Boyd) a "tough but fair" judge.