LEGAL COUNCIL TO PRIVATE AND PUBLIC CORPORATIONS ON:

• Corporate structures
• Asset and share purchase transactions
• Shareholder agreements
• Partnership and public services agreements
• Commercial contracts and contract reviews
• Sales/purchases/leases of real property
• Corporate governance matters
• Employee, employer relations including employee management, progressive discipline, dismissal, union and labor negotiations, arbitration and Labour Board hearings
• Subscriptions
• Share Issuing
• Aviation
• Tax Incentive Programs
• Equity & Debt Financing

LEGAL ADVISOR TO FEDERAL, PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS ON:

• Partnership (private and public), services agreements and the construction and financing of Government Services
• Governance
• Commercial contracts
• Logistics, transportation, shipping
• Construction
• Energy and technology issues
• Annexations, amalgamations and expropriation
• Planning law and land assessment issues
• Mining regulations, and management of natural resources

LABOUR RELATIONS

• Employee/employer relations in the context of federal, provincial and municipal governments
• Collective Bargaining
• All areas of employment and labour law, representing both individual and institutional clients
• Alternative dispute resolution methods including conciliation, mediation and arbitration
• Drafting and preparation of employment agreements
• Development of employment policies and practices
• Negotiations, interpretation and resolution of collective agreement issues
• Management of human resources and labour issues
• Advising on discipline and termination issues and structuring termination packages

GOVERNMENT INFRASTRUCTURE

• General government infrastructure and services construction and financing
• Large project construction and financing of government infrastructure and public services, including water treatment plants, wastewater treatment plants and lagoons
• Preparation and review of commercial and construction contracts
• Preparation and review of development agreements
• Energy and technology issues
• Public utilities hearings

P3 INITIATIVES

• Advising on procurement and tendering strategies, and drafting tender documents
• Negotiating on behalf of Public Sector Entities
• Reviewing the special purpose vehicles for tax-efficiency and reviewing lender structures
• Reviewing financial structure and reviewing financing documentation
• Reviewing concession/project agreements and identifying risk issues for participants

ENVIRONMENTAL

Representation of government departments and corporations, municipalities and individual companies on environmental issues:

Contaminated Sites

• Dealing with issues related to contaminated land including remediation of contaminated property
• Purchase and sale of remediated and contaminated properties
• Environmental assessment processes and approvals and general advice relating to waste management and disposal and experience negotiating waste management and disposal issues
• Transportation, handling and disposal of hazardous substances and municipal and hazardous waste management
• Environmental insurance, lender protection and liability

Air and Water Regulation

• Air and water regulation and pollution issues
• Environmental permitting and critical path process for regulatory approvals for environmental approval in water and air licenses
• Air space rights

REPRESENTATIVE WORK

Corporate Board/Government Policy

• Adoption of politically sensitive policies amongst disparate shareholder groups
• Directly responsible for the creation of an in-house legal services directorate, advancing a positive profile, and improving services to clients of a major client
• Provided analysis, discussion and position papers to clients for legal issues affecting their industries
• Briefed Board members regarding topical issues pertaining to the legal issues affecting board’s of director’s responsibilities. 
• Complex Joint Venture Agreements between mining groups, warehousing groups
• Handled contract supervision, drafting and general solicitor work relating to a multi-million dollar businesses including briefing senior corporate staff, shareholder groups, and Board of Directors during negotiations
• Supervised and handled lead negotiations on complex acquisitions, sales and contracts
• Managed complex and politically sensitive issues requiring inter-governmental and government-industry & collaboration and the balancing of competing interests. 
• Established public policy initiatives regarding access to information, exercise of legislative authority, and governance accountability structures.

Finance

• Drafted loan documentation, supervised utilization of bank precedent materials, and provided legal opinions on financing as required in all manner of financing initiatives for acquisition of equipment to general financing for operations
• Developed with the Client a formal and complex financing arrangement which a national insurance company which was an alternative to letters of credit for 100 million dollar transactions and which was approved by the Alberta regulatory authorities for use in Alberta. The same initiative was undertaken in Saskatchewan
• Negotiated and drafted multi-lateral agreement for the licensing of a software package in the US
• Negotiated and drafted the sale agreement for software in the US

P3 Initiatives

• Legal Counsel to Public Sector Entity (Provincial Government Department) on $250,000,000 P3 DBFMO roadway
• Legal Counsel to Public Sector Entity (Canadian Government Department) on $300,000.000 P3 DBFM roadway
• Legal Counsel to Public Sector Entity (Canadian Government Department) on $250,000,000 P3 DBFMO to DBF public transit
• Legal Counsel to Public Sector Entity (water co-op) on $46,000,000 DBFMO

SIGNIFICANT INITIATIVES

Current

• Legal Counsel to Government Entities in the negotiation, construction and development of an intermodal transportation hub with infrastructure expenditures in excess of $400,000,000 and 11,000 developable acres
• Legal Counsel negotiating on behalf of multiple government entities to DBF a $61,000,000 regional water co-op including negotiations with the Canadian government for the renewal and takeover of their water service by the water co-op
• Legal Counsel to Private Enterprise providing a “Credit Insurance Program” with a license to Aon Canada and reinsured by Markel Insurance Company in the amount of $70,000,000 annually
• Legal Counsel to Private Enterprise for development of 600 acres of land within a major western Canadian urban centre
• Legal Counsel for start-up Canadian Airline

Historical

• Legal Counsel to Public Sector Entities involving the $600,000,000 dollar expansion of the Red River Floodway including initiating 37 recommendations all accepted through the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission
• Legal Counsel for Public Sector Entities in the successful negotiation in several First Nations Land Lease including the negotiation the tax consequences under the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act of Canada
• Legal Counsel to Public Sector Entities (Provincial and Municipal) in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta
• Interprovincial agreement for the exportation of potable water across provincial boundaries under the then new governing water laws in Western Canada (Saskatchewan/Manitoba)
• Legal Counsel to Government Entities involving the amalgamation of entities into a major metropolitan centre
• Legal Counsel to engineering experts (hydrological, microbiology and bacteriological) testifying with respect to a contamination events

• Will Challenges and Defense of Contested Wills
• Probate Litigation
• Testamentary Capacity and Undue Influence
• Will and Trust Interpretation
• Claims for Converted or Missing Funds of Deceased Person
• Joint Account Litigation
• Removing and Replacing Executors, Administrators and Trustees
• Court Applications for Advice and Directions in Estate Administration
• Dependants Support and Relief Claims
• Family Property Claims for or against Surviving Spouse
• Contested Passing of Accounts
• Compensation for Personal Representatives and Trustees
• Constructive Trust Claims
• Quantum Meruit Claims
• Abuse of Power of Attorney and Trust Claims
• Elder Abuse
• Predatory Marriages and Capacity to Marry
• Trust Litigation

PRESENTATIONS

• Municipal Governance
• Government Taxation
• Auditing Municipalities and the legal requirements of Auditors
• Municipal Amalgamation
• Government Employers and Employment Related Matters, How to Best Manage and Protect the Government Employer
• Human Rights, Workplace Safety and Health and Emerging Rights of Employees
• Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy legislation in Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.
• Water service and service sharing agreements between large urban centres and surrounding municipalities
• Municipal “duty to consult” on First Nations matters
• Capital lot levies, the legal standing for Municipalities in Western Canada
• Protection of Information – Cyber Security for Government Entities
• Roles of Council / Roles of Chief Administrative Officers