BC government hires high-powered lawyer Joseph Arvay to protect “land, coast, and waters”

Arva counseled on a number of landmark cases in the Supreme Court of Canada – a court he has appeared in dozens of times

In a press release, British Columbia says it has retained lawyer Joseph J. Arvay, QC as external counsel to the government to prepare and present a reference case related to provinces’s “right to protect BC’s land, coast and waters.”

Arvay holds law degrees from the University of Western Ontario law school and Harvard law school, and is called to the bars of both British Columbia and the Yukon. He has been counsel on a number of landmark cases in the Supreme Court of Canada.

The BC government says it has applied for leave to appeal a Dec. 7, ruling by the National Energy Board that allowed Kinder Morgan to bypass City of Burnaby bylaws related to construction work at the Burnaby Terminal and the Westridge Marine Terminal.

A media spokesperson for the B.C. ministry of environment and climate change strategy wasn’t able to provide details, noting that government lawyers will soon be filing the application and accompanying briefs that will spell out the Province’s argument.

The Province’s position is that the NEB erred by “too broadly defining federal jurisdiction over inter-provincial pipelines.” If the province loses in provincial court, it’s quite possible the B.C. government takes this all the way to the Supreme Court.

Arvay has been named as one of the top 100 Best lawyers in Canada in a publication of the same name for the last several years and in 2013 and 2016 was named Vancouver Lawyer of the Year in Public Law and Administrative Law.

In 2016, Mr. Arvay was awarded with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University, Osgoode Hall Law School. In 2017, he became an Officer of the Order of Canada, one of Canada’s most prestigious civilian honours.