Who is Denis Desrosier?

Denis attended Laurentian University from 1991 to 1994 completing Law & Justice/Sociology degrees. He then commenced his career with the Ministry of Attorney General (MAG) in March 1994, as a cashier with the Provincial Court, Criminal Division.  Denis worked his way up the ranks to the position of trial co-ordinator and in early 2001 was chosen to be part of the POA transfer team with MAG as a trainer to the newly devolving municipally run POA Courts in the Province. He trained in a variety of locations during his time with the project including several of the first municipal POA Transfers.

In late 2001, Denis left the Ministry of Attorney General to take a position with the City of Sault Ste. Marie as their first POA Court Manager. As one of the original MCMA founding members, Denis contributed to several working groups with the MCMA, including the Education, French Language Services, and ICON Committees, as well as played a significant role in the realignment of the original POA appeal process which placed the onus of certain tasks back with the Provincial Court Administration offices. Denis also contributed to several of the earlier MCMA operational resources such as the Conference Planning Guide and the ICON Financial manual.

Denis was one of the original MCMA Board members and became president of the MCMA for a short period of time but had to step down when he was presented with an opportunity to manage the Brandford POA Court.  In 2016, Denis was again presented with another opportunity to expand his management skills by transferring to the City of Guelph as the POA Court Manager and then again in 2021 to the City of Hamilton POA Court as the manager, which provided him with greater personal growth opportunities.

Although more than committed to the MCMA and the progress of POA Court operations, Denis did not forget about life. He had a fantastic sense of humour, loved meeting people, getting together with friends and had a way of putting you at ease. Denis was always working on personal fitness and adventure with mountain and long-distance biking. During MCMA conferences, he would make time to visit bike shops to check out the latest style of biking shorts or bikes. Denis was also a family man, a friend to all, never too busy to lend a hand and gave his all for the betterment of POA court operations and the Association.  His favourite saying was “Life starts on two wheels”.  Unfortunately, his life was cut short and taken in a tragic motor vehicle collision one morning in October 2021, while on the way to work.

In 2022, to honour this remarkable man and to recognize Denis’ commitment to the MCMA and POA court operations, the Association created the Denis Derosiers Award for Excellence in his memory.

The Award Criteria

This award will recognize an extraordinary member who truly stands out for their work, and who consistently goes above and beyond in their role during their long and dedicated career in court services. The recognized member must model excellence in their commitment to high standards of professionalism and expertise. The recognized member must also be actively engaged in promoting the best and proven practices in the areas of court administration, court operations, and enforcement. The recognized member will also have made major contributions to achieving the Association’s collective goals by serving on various committees and/or the Board as well as being involved in consultation projects, stakeholders’ meetings, and participation in our annual conferences.

Recipients

2022 – Rodger Bates, Manager of Court Services, City of Barrie

2023 – Susan Garosino, Director of Court Operations, City of Toronto