Faculty directory

Courses

• Criminal Procedure - 303
• Environmental Law - 329
• Forest Law and Policy - 354
• Environmental Law Centre Clinic- 353

Biography

Chris Tollefson B.A. (Queen's) 1982, LL.B. (UVic) 1985, LL.M. (Osgoode Hall) 1993, called to the Bar of British Columbia in 1987.

Born in Saskatchewan and raised on the Prairies and Ontario, Professor Tollefson did his LLB at UVic and has spent most of his professional career on the West Coast.  After law school he was a law clerk to Mr. Justice Lambert of the B.C. Court of Appeal before pursuing a litigation practice in Vancouver for several years that focussed on criminal defence and Charter litigation.   A practicing member of the B.C. Bar, he has appeared as counsel on cases in the BC Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and in the Supreme Court of Canada.

Since joining the UVic Law Faculty in 1991, Professor Tollefson's work has been published in Canadian, American and European law journals and periodicals. He has also edited and/or co-authored various books and manuscripts including The Wealth of Forests: Markets, Regulation and Sustainable Forestry (1998), cleanair.ca: a citizen's action guide (2000), Setting the Standard: Certification, Governance and the Forest Stewardship Council (2008) and Environmental Law: Cases and Materials (2009). His current research interests include citizen engagement on trade and environmental issues, the interplay between indigenous rights and environmental protection, water pollution and coastal zone management issues, and forest governance and certification.

Professor Tollefson is a fellow of LEAD (Leadership through Environment and Development) International, served as a member of Canada 's National Advisory Committee under the NAFTA environmental side agreement (2001-2006) and is a former Chair of the B.C. Community Forestry Advisory Committee (2005-2007). He is a long-time board member and former President of the Sierra Legal Defence Fund (now Ecojustice Legal Defence Fund). The founding Executive Director of the UVic Environmental Law Centre, he directs the Faculty's public interest environmental law clinical program. 

Link to Short Curriculum Vitae

Links

• UVic Environmental Law Centre
• LEAD (Leadership through Environnent and Development) International
• Community Forest Advisory Committee to the B.C. Minister of Forests
• Sierra Legal Defence Fund
• Centre for Shellfish Research
• Silver Marmots Oldtimers Hockey Team

Publications

Articles

• "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation: The British Columbia Experience" (2010) Review of European Community & International Environmental Law, with Michaelin Scott

• "Tears from an Onion: Layering, Exhaustion and Transformation in B.C. Land Use Planning Policy" (2009) 28 Policy and Society 111-124, with Tim Thielmann
• "Costs in Public Interest Litigation: Recent Developments and Future Directions" (2009) 35 Advocates Quarterly 181-201

• "From Government to Governance in Forest Planning? Lessons from the Case of the British Columbia Great Bear Rainforest Initiative" (2009) 11 Forest Policy and Economics 383-391, with Howlett and Rayner

• "Litigating the Precautionary Principle in Domestic Courts" (2008) 19 Journal of Environmental Law and Practice 33-58, with Jamie Thornback

• "Charting a Course: Shellfish Aquaculture and Indigenous Rights in New Zealand and British Columbia" (2006) 150 B.C. Studies 3-41, with R.M. Scott

• "Costs and the Public Interest Litigant: Okanagan Indian Band and Beyond" (2006) 19 Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice 39-61

• "The Implications of Okanagan Indian Band for Public Interest Litigants: A Strategic Discussion Paper" (presented at the AGM of the Court Challenges Program of Canada: Winnipeg, November 19, 2005)

• "Charting a Course: Assessing Regulatory Regimes for Shellfish Aquaculture in New Zealand and British Columbia", with R.M. Scott (presented to the AGM of the Aquaculture Association of Canada, July 2005)

• “Towards a Public Interest Costs Jurisprudence" (2004) 83 Canadian Bar Review (50 pages) lead author with D. Gilliland and J. DeMarco

• "NAFTA’s Chapter Eleven: the Case for Reform" Choices (Institute for Research in Public Policy: Ottawa, March 2003)

• "Games without Frontiers: Investor Claims and Citizen Submissions under the NAFTA Regime" (2002) 27 Yale Journal of International Law 141-191

• "Metalclad Corporation v. The United Mexican States Revisited: Judicial Oversight of the Investor-State Claim Process under NAFTA" (2002) 11 Minnesota Journal of Global Trade 182-223

• "Advancing An Agenda? A Reflection on Recent Developments in Canadian Public Interest Environmental Litigation" (2002) 51 UNBLJ 175-196

• "A Fluid Situation: Evolving Drinking Water Law and Policy in British Columbia" (2001) 59 The Advocate 527-542, with Peter MacPherson

• "Aboriginal Rights and Cumulative Environmental Effects" (1998) 18 Environmental Impact Review 371-390, with Karen Wipond

• "Contaminated Sites Liability in British Columbia" (1997) Environmental Liability, with Diana Belevsky

• "Bill 26 Arrives" (1997) The Advocate, with Diana Belevsky

Books, Chapters, Monographs, Facta & Reports

• Environmental Law: Cases and Materials (Carswell, 2009) with Meinhard Doelle (625 pp)

• "From Old to New Governance in Canadian Forest Policy: Dynamics Without Change?" in VanNijnatten, D. L., & Boardman, R. (eds.) Canadian Environmental Policy (3rd ed.) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), with M. Howlett and J. Rayner

• "Investor Rights and Sustainable Development" in Handbook on Trade and Environment (Edward Elgar: London 2009), with W.A.W. Neilson

• Setting the Standard: Certification, Governance and the Forest Stewardship Council, co-authored with F. Gale and D. Haley (UBC Press: 2008) See Table of Contents and Chapter One at this link.)

• Intervention Factum in Little Sisters v Canada Customs in the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of the UVic Environmental Law Centre and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund (argued April 19, 2006), with R. Wright

• "Costs and Public Participation: Strategic Implications of Okanagan Indian Band for Public Interest Litigants". Discussion paper commissioned by the Court Challenges Program of Canada (submitted in December 2005).

• "Charting a Course: Assessing Regulatory Regimes for Shellfish Aquaculture in British Columbia & New Zealand" (80 pages), with Robert Scott (To be published in a volume edited by Dr. J. Rayner).

• "NAFTA’s Chapter Eleven: The Case for Reform" in J. Kirton and P. Hajnal (eds.) Sustainability, Civil Society and Local Governance: Local, North American and Global Perspectives (Ashgate Publishing, 2004)

• "Indigenous Rights and Forest Certification" in J. Kirton and V. MacLaren (eds.) Hard Choices and Soft Law: Trade, Environment and Social Cohesion in Global Governance (Ashgate Publishing, 2003)

• "Wastewater Regulation and Shellfish Aquaculture: A Comparative Study" (B.C. Centre for Shellfish Research: 2003). A monograph by the B.C. Centre for Shellfish Research & Real Estate Foundation of B.C., 63 pages.

• "Judicial Review and Public Participation" in Hughes, Lucas and Tilleman (eds.) Environmental Law and Policy in Canada,3rd edition (Emond: Toronto, 2003)

• "Advancing an Agenda? Recent Developments in Public Interest Environmental Law in Canada" Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice Conference Proceedings (Themis Publishers: 2002)

• "Stormy Weather: A Reflection on the Recent History of the Citizen Submission Process under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation" in J.Kirton and V. MacLaren (eds.) Linking Trade, Environment and Social Cohesion: North American Experiences, Global Challenges (Ashgate Publishing, 2001)

• cleanair.ca: a citizen’s action guide (Sierra Legal Defence Fund, 2000) Lead author, co-authored by Chris Rolfe and Chris Rhone

• The Wealth of Forests: Markets, Regulation and Sustainable Forestry (UBC Press, 1998) editor and contributing author

• External Review of Remediation Liability Provisions: The Wastewater Management Act, 1993 (1996: B.C. Ministry of Environment). An independent report commissioned by the Minister of Environment on proposed contaminated sites liability regulations, with D. Belevsky

Other Publications

• "Strategic Lawsuits, Environmental Politics and Daishowa Inc. v. Friends of Lubicon" (1996), Journal of Canadian Studies

• "External Review of Remediation Liability Provisions: The Waste Management Act Amendment Act , 1993", a report commissioned by the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks (Victoria: July 31, 1996) 108 pages, with Diana Belevsky

• "When the ‘Public Interest’ Loses: The Liability of Public Interest Litigants for Adverse Cost Awards" (1995), 29 UBC Law Review 303-339

• "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation: Developing a Canadian Response" (1994), 73 Canadian Bar Review 200-231

• "Wilson: Forfeiting the Right to Counsel?' (1994), 25 Criminal Reports (4th) 257-264

• "Corporate Constitutional Rights and the Supreme Court of Canada" (1993), 19 Queen’s L.J. 309-349 (special constitutional issue dedicated to William Lederman) 309-349

• "Case Comment: R. v. Wholesale Travel Group Inc." (1992), 71 Canadian Bar Review 369-383

• "Ideologies Clashing: Corporations, Criminal Law and the Regulatory Offence" (1991), 29 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 705-745

Research

PowerPoint presentation by Professor Tollefson Litigating the Precautionary Principle

Current Research Interests

Professor Tollefson's research interests span a range of environmental and resource management issues, including trade and environment, community forestry and forest certification, the interplay between aboriginal rights/title and environmental protection, access to justice in environmental decision-making, coastal zone management, public interest litigation and clinical legal education. His work has been published in scholarly journals in Canada, the United States and Europe, and includes several books. He has also been commissioned to author expert reports for various government bodies and NGOs. As founder and Executive Director of the UVic Environmental Law Clinic, he has played a key role in securing research funding from a wide variety of sources to support ongoing clinic operations.

Recent Research Awards and Grants

• $75,000 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant to support research into new governance arrangements for sustainable resource management (Principal Investigator) 2009

• $150,000 Law Foundation of British Columbia grants to support two law reform projects: (1) environmental assessment and (2) environmental tribunals (Principal Investigator) 2009

• $75,000 Sustainable Forest Management Network Centre of Excellence, to support research into integrated land management in Canada's western provinces, 2006 ongoing (with Dr. J. Rayner)

• $5,000 Court Challenges Project of Canada "Costs Rules and Public Interest Litigants: An Impact Analysis of Okanagan Indian Band " 2005

• $42,800 Ducks Unlimited (with support from the B.C. Ministry of Environment) "Model Wetlands/Grasslands Bylaw" research project to be completed by the UVic Environmental Law Centre 2005

• $60,000 Law Foundation of British Columbia (Community Advocacy for a Sustainable Environment project) 2004 (over 2 years)

• $40,000 ($US) Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission "Skagit Land and Resource Management Strategy", to fund collaborative research project involving UVic's ELC and the Berman Environmental Law Clinic 2004

• $50,000 ($US) Bullitt Foundation to support capacity development of the UVic Environmental Law Centre 2004 (over 2 years)

• $24,000 AquaNet Centre of Excellence (with support from NSERC and SSHRC) "Integrating Shellfish Aquaculture and Marine Protected Areas in B.C.: A Framework for Planning" 2004

• $29,853 AquaNet Centre of Excellence (with support from NSERC and SSHRC) "Integrating Shellfish Aquaculture and Marine Protected Areas in B.C.: A Framework for Planning" 2003

• $25,000 B.C. Real Estate Foundation "Wastewater Regulation and Shellfish Aquaculture: A Comparative Analysis" 2003

• $60,000 AquaNet (supported by NSERC and SSHRC) for "Network Governance and 'Smart Regulation' for the Development of Sustainable Shellfish Aquaculture in Canada" 2002

• $300,000 SSHRC grant "Strengthening Canada's Environmental Community through International Regime Reform", 2001 (co-investigator)

• $40,000 SSHRC-Law Commission of Canada grant "Economic Relationships in Transition" (Principal Investigator) 2000

• $10,000 Environment Canada "Community Animation" funding to support completion of cleanair.ca: a citizen's action guide 1999

• $20,000 British Columbia Institute for Co-operative Studies funding to support community resource materials 1999

• $8,000 From Faculty of Law, Eco-Research Chair and President's Office to fund Wealth of Forests Conference 1998

• $1,200 UVSS Graduating Class Award to Fund Research of Air Pollution: A Citizen's Guide 1998

• $3,500 CAPI Research Fellowship Grant to Fund Research on Public Interest Environmental Litigation in Indonesia 1997

• $8,000 Law Foundation of B.C. Grant to fund eco-health project undertaken by the UVic Environmental Law Centre 1997