Profile

Chris W. Sanderson, Q.C.

Partner

 

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments

Recent transactions include representing:

* The owner of a natural gas storage facility in connection with provincial and regulatory policy related to natural gas storage in B.C.
* An oil refinery in connection with various applications before the National Energy Board and the British Columbia Utilities Commission relating to crude oil and refined product shipment;
* A territorial government in connection with an application to construct the Mackenzie Gas Project and in constitutional litigation arising therefrom
* A territorial government in connection with an application to transfer regulatory jurisdiction over TransCanada Pipeline’s Alberta System from Alberta Utilities Commission to National Energy Board jurisdiction
* A Canadian energy marketer in connection with regulatory and civil class action proceedings arising out of the California Energy Crisis in 2000 and 2001
* A large electric utility seeking to upgrade its high voltage transmission system to serve significant new demand from the natural gas industry
* A large electric utility before the British Columbia Utilities Commission the BC Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in connection with a contract for the purchase of $950 million worth of energy from an independent generator
* A large electric utility in connection with all regulatory and First Nation consultation aspects of acquiring an interest in a major hydro and electric generating facility
* A Canadian energy marketer in connection with all regulatory aspects of short and long term export sales
* The Canadian Entity under an international treaty in connection with a series of negotiations and transactions relating to energy entitlements created under the Columbia River Treaty
* An applicant for a licence from the National Energy Board to export LNG from the west coast of British Columbia

Professional Associations

Professional Activities
* Provided pro bono services in connection with public interest litigation (e.g., to the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association in Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36 and in BC Teachers Federation v. Translink and BC Transit) including the Supreme Court of Canada in both cases.
* "Regulatory Boards and Administrative Law Litigation" Federated Press, Member of Editorial Board

Community Activities
* Family Services of Greater Vancouver, Chair
* Kenneth Gordon School Foundation, Former Chair
* Society for the Education of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities, Former Chair

Publications

"The Crown's Duty to Consult Aboriginal Peoples: Towards an Understanding of the Source, Purpose and Limits of the Duty", Alberta Law Review (Fall 2011) [pending], Co-author with Keith B. Bergner and Michelle S. Jones

"Energy (Electricity) Recent Developments of Importance", The 2011 Lexpert®/ American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada ©Thomson Reuters Canada Limited (January 4, 2011)

"Supreme Court of Canada Confirms Utility of Administrative Law in Aboriginal Consultation Cases", Regulatory Boards and Administrative Law Litigation Journal (2010 / 2011), Co-author with Michelle S. Jones

“Supreme Court of Canada clarifies duty to consult", Lawyers Weekly (November 12, 2010), Interview

Supreme Court of Canada Clarifies (some of) the Limits of the Duty to Consult (Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. and British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority v. Carrier Sekani Tribal Council, 2010 SCC 43) (October 29, 2010)

"The 1964 Columbia River Treaty and its Implementation" in Barbara Cosens, Lynette de Silva, Matthew McKinney, Richard Paisley, Edward Weber & Aaron Wolf, eds., Transboundary River Governance in the Face of Uncertainty: The Columbia River Treaty (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press) [forthcoming].

"Administrative Law Reform in British Columbia: Balancing Harmonization Versus Autonomy and Tackling the Standard of Review" (2003) VI Regulatory Boards and Administrative Law Litigation Journal 1, Co-author with Jude Samson

"2002 in Review: Recent Canadian Regulatory Developments Affecting Natural Gas Pipelines" (Paper presented at the 7th Annual North American Pipelines Conference, Calgary, Alberta, 19 March 2002) [unpublished]

“Collateral Attack of Administrative Orders Outside of the Penal Context" Regulatory Boards and Administrative Law Litigation, Vol. V, No. 2 (2002) Co-author with Marko Vesely

“Reciprocity as a Condition Precedent to Canada-U.S. Trade in Electricity", The Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Spring 1995)

“Energy and the Environment: A Study of Alternative Fact Finding Processes. Case Study I: Electricity Export, the Burrard Thermal Generating Plant, and Air Quality in the Lower Fraser Basin", Institutes for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Development Research Institute, U.B.C. (1994) Co-author with Paul G. Bradley

Bar Admission

British Columbia (1978)
Alberta (1988)
Queen's Counsel, British Columbia (2001)
Northwest Territories (2001)

Education

University of British Columbia (B.A., 1972; LL.B., 1977).