2020 BCCAT Education Conference
Embracing Change in a Pandemic Era
October 26-27, 2020
Conference Presenters
- The Honourable Robert J. Bauman
- Jason Bowman
- Rosalind Campbell
- Devyn Cousineau
- Sacha de Klerk
- Robert Danay
- Craig A.B. Ferris, QC, FCIArb.
- Alexandra Flynn
- Cristie Ford
The Honourable Robert J. Bauman is the Chief Justice of British Columbia, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal of Yukon. He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 1996; as a justice of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia in 2008; as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2009; and as Chief Justice of British Columbia in 2013. Prior to becoming a judge, he was in private practice with Bull, Housser & Tupper in Vancouver. He worked largely in the areas of local government and administrative law. While practicing law, he taught administrative law at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law as an adjunct professor from 1991 to 1996. In 2012, and again in 2013, Chief Justice Bauman was named by Canadian Lawyer Magazine as one of the “Top 25 Most Influential” in the justice system in Canada. In 2012, he was also presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal for contributions to Canada. As well, Chief Justice Bauman is the 2012 recipient of the Anthony P. Pantages, QC Medal for outstanding contributions to the field of justice, presented by The Justice Institute of British Columbia Foundation. Chief Justice Bauman was the recipient of the 2013 TLABC Bench Award by the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia. From 2013 to 2016, he held the position of Vice-Chair of the Canadian Judicial Council. Chief Justice Bauman is the founding Chair of Access to Justice BC
Jason Bowman is the Executive Director and Registrar with the Property Assessment Appeal Board. Jason joined the Board in May 2019 after an accomplished career in the transportation industry as an Executive Director with BC Ferries and Manager with Delta Air Lines. He has an extensive background in Operations Management, Information Technology, Fiscal Management, Stakeholder Engagement (Government / Community / First Nations), Strategic Planning & Execution, Program Management, and Continuous Improvement. He has a Master of Business Administration from McGill University, specializing in Strategy and Finance; as well as a Bachelor of Commerce from Concordia University.
Rosalind Campbell grew up in the Musqueam community, resides here today and is an active member. Rosalind’s mother was the late Theresa Campbell (nee Point) and her father is Ben Campbell.
Rosalind is a lawyer whose Aboriginal Law practice includes the areas of corporate commercial and governance. She graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2006 and a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2009. Rosalind was called to the bar (Law Society of B.C.) in 2010. Her experience prior to law practice includes many years as a legal assistant and tax administrator for the Musqueam Indian Band.
From 2013 – 2015, Rosalind volunteered as Chair of the Musqueam Land Code Committee, consulting community members on the development of an interim spousal property law.
On November 30, 2016, Musqueam community members elected Rosalind to Musqueam Council for her first four-year term. Rosalind currently sits on both the Intergovernmental Affairs and Finance & Administration Committees.
Rosalind is a strong supporter of the revitalization of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (the ancestral language of the Musqueam people and is the middle dialect of the Halq̓emeylem hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ Hul̕q̓umin̓um̓ dialect continuum), and has completed several years of hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ courses offered by UBC. She took this institutional route due to most fluent speakers having passed by the late 1990s, when Rosalind began the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ courses.
Rosalind recently volunteered on committees of several provincial entities to create recommendations to implement some of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
Devyn Cousineau is a full-time Member of the BC Human Rights Tribunal. She has a law degree from the University of Victoria (2006) and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from McGill University (2003).
After graduating from law school, Ms. Cousineau clerked at the BC Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. She has worked as counsel at a legal non-profit organization, practicing anti-poverty and human rights law, and in a labour law firm. Prior to her appointment as a Tribunal Member, Ms. Cousineau served as legal counsel for the Tribunal.
Sacha de Klerk is the Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP. Sacha joined Norton Rose’s London office in 2010, and led the firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives across Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She moved to the Toronto office in 2016 to promote the firm’s diversity and inclusion strategy across Canada and Latin America. Sacha leads initiatives to attract, select and retain a diversity of talented individuals and to promote their inclusion and career advancement. Sacha is a member of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals.
Robert Danay is an administrative and constitutional litigator with British Columbia’s Ministry of Attorney General’s Litigation Group in Vancouver. He has represented the government in a wide variety of high profile cases in various courts and tribunals in Canada. Mr. Danay earned a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, an LL.B. from the Osgoode Hall Law School and a B.C.L from the University of Oxford. He also clerked for the Deputy Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He has taught courses ranging from Law and Technology, Administrative Law, Public Law, Torts and the Law of Evidence at UBC’s Allard School of Law as well as at the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law. He has published an eclectic variety of scholarly articles on topics ranging from internet defamation to the standard of review in administrative law in journals such as the McGill Law Journal, University of Toronto Law Journal, University of British Columbia Law Journal, Yale Journal of Law and Technology, Hong Kong Law Journal, and the South African Journal on Human Rights.
Craig A.B. Ferris, QC, FCIArb. is currently the President of the Law Society for British Columbia. For the past three years, he has been Chair of the Law Society Tribunal. On April 27, 2020, Craig issued a Practice Direction for the Law Society Tribunal regarding “Alternatives to in-person oral hearings.”
Craig is a partner with Lawson Lundell LLP. He acts for clients in commercial and business disputes. His particular areas of specialization include shareholder remedies, trust, pension and fiduciary disputes, securities and transactional litigation, product liability, mining disputes and real estate litigation. Craig has appeared in all levels of court in British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Canada as well as in the courts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario. He has an active arbitration practice. Craig has a particular expertise in class actions. Craig has been widely recognized and, in 2020, he was named one of the Top 50 Trial Lawyers in Canada by Benchmark Litigation.
Alexandra Flynn is an Assistant Professor at University of British Columbia’s Allard School of Law. Her teaching and research focusses on municipal law and governance, and administrative law. Professor Flynn’s current SSHRC-funded project focuses on the legal relationship between Indigenous communities and municipal governments. The goal of this project is to illuminate the legal obligations of municipal governments, including the duty to consult and accommodate, to create reciprocal, respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples and First Nations. She is the author of many academic and popular media contributions, and is currently working on a book entitled Micro Legal Spaces: the Laws of Neighbourhoods and Communities, which examines overlapping geographies and governance of city spaces, including the formal and informal bodies that represent residents. She has a long history working in law and policy, and is a past TEDx speaker and a frequent media commentator.
Cristie Ford is Professor and Associate Dean at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Her research focuses primarily on regulatory governance and administrative law as they relate to international, US and Canadian financial and securities regulation. In recent years, her interests have expanded to include access to justice issues and the governance of the legal profession. Prior to joining UBC, Professor Ford practiced law in Vancouver and New York. She obtained her graduate degrees from Columbia Law School, where she also taught in a variety of capacities.
Erin Frew was appointed Vice Chair of the Property Assessment Appeal Board in 2016. Erin received her Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia and was admitted to the BC Bar in 2011. Prior to her appointment to the Property Assessment Appeal Board, Erin gained experience in quasi-judicial proceedings as an Arbitrator for the Residential Tenancy Branch and as a Review Officer with WorkSafeBC. In the past, Erin was an associate lawyer at a national tax firm and assisted judges and legal officers at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Erin is on the Education and Conference Committees for the British Columbia Council of Administrative Tribunals.
Alden Habacon is a Diversity & Inclusion Strategist and one of Canada’s leading diversity and inclusion strategists and facilitators. He is well known in this field and highly regarded for his fourteen years of impact, and his innovative work around inclusive leadership, unconscious bias and intercultural training. Alden works with leadership in a wide range of professions and sectors throughout Canada, including the legal community, social services, the public sector, municipalities, first responders, and large private corporations.
Diana Juricevic serves as Chair of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and Chair of the British Columbia Mental Health Review Board. She holds a Juris Doctor and Master of Economics degree from the University of Toronto as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from the same institution. She also serves as Chair of the Circle of Chairs in the administrative justice sector in British Columbia. Prior to joining the administrative justice sector in British Columbia, Ms. Juricevic practised international criminal law in the Netherlands and Cambodia. She was also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law where she led the International Human Rights Program and taught several courses. At the outset of her career, Ms. Juricevic practised civil litigation at a large national law firm in Toronto.
Mary Liston is an Associate Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia. She teaches public law including administrative and constitutional law, legal theory, and law and literature. Her research focuses on public law broadly and administrative law in particular. It also lies at the intersection of constitutional law, legal theory, and democratic theory. Professor Liston’s early scholarship focused on the evolution of the concept of the rule of law and how it functions as a foundational legal principle in Canadian public law. She has participated in two leading casebooks as a co-author of Public Law: Cases, Commentary and Analysis (4th ed) and as a contributor to Administrative Law in Context (3rd ed). Her work has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in several precedential public law cases. Professor Liston has developed sub-areas of expertise in the emerging field of Aboriginal administrative law as well as modes of interpreting of legal texts. She has also brought her perspective to bear on public law in other jurisdictions such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Honourable Mr. Justice David M. Masuhara is a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He was appointed in 2002 and sits in Vancouver, B.C. as senior judge. He is the chair of the Joint Courts Technology Committee (Court of Appeal and Supreme Court); a member of the British Columbia Court Services Technology Board; former chair of the Judicom Advisory Board (Office of the Federal Commissioner for Judicial Affairs), and former governor of the Law Foundation of B.C. He is a frequent speaker on technology and class actions. He recently completed a term as the Inns of Court Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. His area of research was artificial intelligence and adjudication. He is presently participating in a provincial initiative to leverage innovative AI technologies that will assist the justice system in enhancing access to justice and modernizing court processes.
Greg McMullen is a lawyer, consultant, and internet activist based in Vancouver, British Columbia. His work focuses on emerging technologies and their societal impacts, particularly in the areas of privacy, digital rights, and national security. He has worked as plaintiff counsel on a number of high profile class actions, including Douez v Facebook, and was Chief Policy Officer for a startup based in Berlin, Germany. Greg has a JD from the University of British Columbia, an MA from the University of Calgary, and a BA from the University of New Brunswick. He was admitted to the BC Bar in 2010.
Oliver Pulleyblank is the founder and principal of Pulleyblank Law, where his practice focuses on administrative, Aboriginal, constitutional and appellate law. Oliver is an adjunct professor at UBC Allard Law School, where he teaches Public Law and Environmental Law. Prior to founding Pulleyblank Law, Oliver was a litigator at the Department of Justice in Vancouver. Oliver served as a law clerk to Chief Justice McLachlin at the Supreme Court of Canada, and to Justices Hall and Saunders at the British Columbia Court of Appeal.
William R. Pulleyblank is a Professor of Operations Research in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the United States Military Academy, West Point.
He joined USMA from IBM, where he was Vice President, responsible for the Business Analytics and Optimization function within IBM Global Services. Prior to this, in IBM Research, the activities he led included the Blue Gene project, which created the supercomputer certified as the most powerful in the world from 2004 to 2008.
Prior to joining IBM in 1990, Dr. Pulleyblank was a Full Professor and holder of the CP/NSERC Chair of Optimization and Computer Applications at the University of Waterloo.
He has served on a number of boards and advisory panels, including the Advisory Committee of the Division of Mathematics & Physical Sciences of the NSF and the Board on Mathematical Sciences of the NRC. He is a member of the Board of The Institute for Quantum Computing and The Scientific Advisory Committee of the Council of Canadian Academies.
Dr. Pulleyblank has been awarded honorary degrees from The College of St. Rose, from McMaster University, and from the University of Calgary. In 2005 he was awarded a Faculty of Mathematics Alumni Achievement Medal by the University of Waterloo and an Alberta Centennial Medal in recognition of contributions to the province of Alberta. In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of INFORMS, the international operations research and management science society and in 2011 he delivered the Philip McCord Morris Lecture to the fall meeting of INFORMS.
In 2008, the Blue Gene project which he led was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by President Obama and in 2010 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering.
James Sheppard is the Vice Chair of Quality Assurance and Training for the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT). He was appointed as a vice chair of WCAT when it commenced operations on March 3, 2003. Prior to that appointment, Mr. Sheppard served as a non-representational appeal commissioner with the Appeal Division of the Workers’ Compensation Board and prior to this worked for the Ministry of Labour. He was called to the bar in March of 1987 and has Bachelor of Commerce and LL.B. degrees from the University of British Columbia.
Jocelyn Stacey is an Assistant Professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia. She researches environmental crises and the visible and invisible ways in which law creates, regulates and prevents these events. Her work focuses on environmental assessment law, disaster law, climate change, emergency powers and the rule of law. Professor Stacey teaches Environmental Law and Administrative Law at UBC. She works closely with BC First Nations on Indigenous jurisdiction and disaster and she is the President of the Centre for Environmental Law and Litigation. Professor Stacey has a doctorate in law from McGill University, a LLM from Yale Law School and a LLB from the University of Calgary. She clerked for the Honourable Marshall Rothstein at the Supreme Court of Canada (2009-2010).
The Honourable David W. Stratas was born in Toronto, Ontario; Education at Queen’s University (LL.B.) and Oxford University (B.C.L.); Called to the Bar of Ontario, 1988. Practised in Toronto with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, 1988-1998; Hicks Morley, 1998-2001; Heenan Blaikie LLP, 2001-2009. Appointed Special Advocate, 2008. Appointed Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, 2008. Adjunct member, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, 1994-2009, where he won eight faculty teaching awards. Author of over 220 articles or conference papers on various legal topics, particularly in the area of administrative and constitutional law. Appointed Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, and a member ex officio of the Federal Court, December 11, 2009. Address: Federal Court of Appeal, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0H9.
Susanna is a lawyer and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) leader with over 13 years’ experience developing innovative strategies and initiatives that promote more inclusive workplaces. She is currently an organizational development consultant specializing in DEI with ICBC, focused on enhancing structural inclusion by assessing and improving talent management processes for an organization of over 5000 employees. Before joining ICBC, Susanna served as the director of inclusion for a national law firm, and as the diversity policy lawyer for the provincial regulator of the legal profession.
Krissy Van Loon, Communications Manager, BCUC, joined the British Columbia Utilities Commission (BCUC) in September 2018. In her role as Manager of Communications, Krissy is responsible for developing and leading the implementation of all communications initiatives on behalf of the BCUC. This includes overseeing branding, issues management, social media, media relations, public affairs, stakeholder relations, event planning and internal communications. Prior to joining the BCUC, Krissy spent nearly ten years working in various communications and public affairs roles with both public and private sector organizations. She has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration with a focus in Leadership in Management from Trinity Western University.
Matthew Voell acts for clients on a wide variety of public law matters, including disputes involving local government, administrative, constitutional, and human rights issues. He also maintains an active general civil litigation practice, assisting clients with disputes involving commercial agreements, real estate development, and strata law matters.
Ardith (Walpetko We’dalx) Walkem is a member of the Nlaka’pamux Nation who has practiced in the areas of Indigenous law since she was called to the Bar in 1996. She has training in interest-based mediation as well as social justice mediation, and a Masters Degree focusing on Indigenous laws. She has worked collaboratively with Indigenous communities to develop dispute resolution models based on Indigenous laws, including in the areas of child welfare and lands and resources. Her focus is on finding ways to make space within the Canadian legal system for the recognition of Indigenous laws, and this has included in the areas of child and family wellness (finding ways to reassert and reclaim Indigenous laws in this area) and also exploring laws about land and resource use.
She has owned and operated a law firm (Walkem and Associates a Law Corporation, previously Ardith Walkem a Law Corporation) for eighteen years. She has acted at all levels of court, including the Provincial, the B.C. Supreme Court, B.C. Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada as part of the legal team in R. v. Morris. Ardith has a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University (Major Political Science, Minor Women’s Studies); Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Laws from the University of British Columbia. In addition, she has taught at the UBC Faculty of Law. Ardith has published and spoken extensively in the area of Indigenous Peoples and the law.