A leader in diversity inclusion has been recognized for her legal work.

PotashCorp’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Leanne Bellegarde, has been recognized with a Queen’s Counsel Designation.

Bellegarde works with the mining company on ways to improve the representation of Indigenous peoples and other minorities in the company.

Sixteen other legal professionals in the province will receive this year’s award that signifies distinct contributors to the legal practice.

“It’s always especially meaningful when you’re recognized for and by your peers for what you’ve chosen to do in your career, so it is a special designation, by all means, for me,” says Bellegarde. “A Queen’s Counsel is a culmination of a career of dedication to my profession, my community, and to doing well by the education that I received and my designation as a practicing lawyer.”

Bellegarde has also worked for the company as the director of Aboriginal strategy.

Appointments for the award are based on recommendations from a selection committee made up of the province’s minister of justice and attorney general and other legal authorities.

Recipients of the QC designation must live in Saskatchewan and have practiced law for at least ten years in any province or territory within Canada, Ireland or the United Kingdom.

(PHOTO: Leanne Bellegarde signing an agreement for PotashCorp to hire Indigenous interns.  Photo by Mervin Brass.)