nine-month gap.

The Island's new Solicitor General will be Canadian lawyer William Pearce QC, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Mr. Pearce, 55, will begin a three-year appointment in the $98,000-a-year post on January 19.

The Attorney General's chambers has been without a Solicitor General since March, when Barrie Meade retired.

But Government officials yesterday confirmed Mr. Pearce, from Victoria in British Columbia, would take the post after a lengthy interview process.

Opposition leaders had called for a Bermudian to get the job and PLP veteran Lois Browne Evans backed calls for Charles-Etta Simmons to be appointed.

Former Magistrate Ms Simmons temporarily took the post between April 7 and May 31. But a Government Information Services spokesman said last night: "The recruitment process to secure a new Solicitor General has now been concluded.'' Mr. Pearce leaves a position as Senior Counsel in the Ministry of the Attorney General in British Columbia.

He has held the position, in the Civil Litigation department, since 1979.

Lawyer Mrs. Browne Evans, Bermuda's first woman leader of a political party, was unavailable for comment last night.

But when the position was advertised, she told The Royal Gazette the Attorney General should appoint a Bermudian.

She added: "That department should not try to bring in any other overseas persons.

"We caught hell enough bringing in an outside Attorney General.'' The Attorney General, Barbados-born Elliott Mottley, revealed nearly 80 applications were received for the post and 74 of them came from overseas.

And Shadow Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety Minister Alex Scott said last night: "This is something that Mrs. Browne Evans has felt particularly strongly about.

"I don't know the exact strengths of our top Bermudian lawyers. But we would always wish to see a post such as this filled by a Bermudian.

"We want top positions to be filled by capable Bermudians and able, qualified Bermudians.'' The Royal Gazette revealed in October that the Solicitor General's job had been offered to a Canadian but officials would not reveal his name.

Mr. Pearce was recommended to the Public Services Commission by the Attorney General after a series of interviews. He was educated at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario and at the University of Western Ontario where he gained a BA in Philosophy and Psychology.

He studied law at Osgoode Hall and was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1968.

He is married and has two grown children, aged 22 and 19.