Judge Laurel J. Halfpenny MacQuarrie was raised in Melford, Guysborough County, NS. She received her BA in 1984 and her B.Ed. in 1985, both from StFX. Before attending UNB for her LL.B., she worked as an aid to an MP in Ottawa. Admitted to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1990, she entered private practice, before joining the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service, during which time she prosecuted everything from speeding tickets to first degree murder. Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie was involved in continuing legal education for Crown Attorneys and served on the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society. Before her 2003 appointment to the Provincial Court, she did a two-year secondment with the Provincial Prosecution Services’ Appeals Branch. Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie presides in Port Hawkesbury, NS. In 2012, she established the first Wellness Court in Nova Scotia, which examines the underlying cause(s) of offending behaviour of high-risk clients and, together with a Court team, determines a wellness plan to reduce and/or eliminate further criminal activity. In 2016, Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie began working with the Wagmatcook and We’koqma’q First Nations Chiefs, Councils and Elders to establish a communitybased Court. On April 4, 2018, Wagmatcook First Nations Court held its first sitting. Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie is humbled to preside in the Wagmatcook First Nations Court, were the sentencing, healing and restorative justice plans reflecting the Seven Sacred Teaching are designed in collaboration with the Elders’ Community Justice Council. Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie has been an invited speaker at many universities and has presented across Canada for the Canadian Bar Association, the National Judicial Institute, and others, including presenting with Senator Murray Sinclair at Six Nations of the Grand River, ON regarding Indigenous justice. Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie has had a close relationship with the StFX forensic psychology special concentration. She’s had students do placements in her Wellness Court and has presented at the annual StFX Forensic Psychology Day. She is also a longtime volunteer, serving as President of Leeside Transition House Society, the Port Hawkesbury chapter of Canadian Parents for French, the Strait Area Soccer Club, and the Port Hawkesbury Highland Dance Association. She chaired the Town of Port Hawkesbury’s Planning Advisory Committee, the Port Hawkesbury School Advisory Council, the Port Hawkesbury Courthouse Users’ Committee, and she currently sits on the Board of Directors with Soccer Nova Scotia. Professionally, she is a past President of the Nova Scotia Provincial Court Judges’ Association and is a board member of the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges and the Canadian branch of the International Association of Women Judges. In 2018, Judge Halfpenny MacQuarrie was recognized with the Canadian Bar Association - Nova Scotia Branch’s Distinguished Service Award.
