Minister Advisory Council: Membership
Memberships
The Minister’s Advisory Council provides the Minister of Environment and Climate Change with non-partisan advice and recommendations on issues related to the implementation of the impact assessment regime.
The Council membership reflects varied backgrounds and experience in industry, academia and research, governance, environmental not-for-profit organizations, and Indigenous knowledge and rights. The Council includes representation from regions across the country, both official languages and a gender balance.
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Lesley Griffiths (Chair)
Ms. Lesley Griffiths is a retired environmental and community planner. For over thirty years, she was Co-principal of Griffiths Muecke, a consulting firm providing services in the areas of consultation and consensus-building processes, environmental impact assessment, resource management and community development. Ms. Griffiths has extensive experience relating to coastal and offshore planning, stakeholder involvement and facilitation, resource developments, waste management, watershed management, recreation and tourism planning, and community development.
Ms. Griffiths has developed and implemented information and consultation strategies for community and social planning, community economic development, resource developments and various types of waste management planning. In addition, she served as Executive Director of East Coast Environmental Law.
Ms. Griffiths has substantive experience with environmental assessment panels. She first served as a joint panel member for the review of the Halifax Harbour Wastewater Treatment Facility under FEARO. Subsequently, she chaired the federal-provincial joint review panels examining the Voisey's Bay Mine and Mill Project in northern Labrador, the Sydney Tar Ponds remediation in Cape Breton, and the Marathon Platinum Group Metals and Copper Mine Project in Ontario, and co-chaired the joint review panel for the Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Project. Most recently, she has chaired the panel for Joint Process to review the Milton Logistics Hub project in Ontario. Ms. Griffiths was appointed as Process Lead for the Fundy Tidal Energy Strategic Environmental Assessment, and co-chaired the Nova Scotia Minister of Environment's Task Force on Clean Air, producing the province's first air quality management strategy.
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Pierre Baril
Pierre Baril is an engineer in agronomy who graduated from Laval University. He also holds a master’s degree and a PhD in Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. He has spent the last 20 years in the Government of Quebec, successively as Vice-President of the Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec, Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy at the Ministère de l’Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, Director General of Ouranos and President of the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement (BAPE). Most recently, he led a team dedicated to the modernization of environmental regulation. He has previously worked in the field of consulting engineering. He has served on the boards of directors of many non-governmental associations, including Nature Québec, Réseau Environnement, the Réseau International des Organismes de Bassin and the Office International de l’Eau. He is self-employed and his expertise includes environmental policies, water management and climate change. He is a board member of the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) and the Institut du Nouveau Monde.
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Carl Braun
Mr. Carl Braun is Indigenous and holds his traditional land lessons and values high. He has been sharing his Indigenous Knowledge & Natural Resource Management Technologist and environmental science skills with First Nations and governments for thirty years. As a technologist in the fisheries, wildlife, forestry sectors, he participated in many field projects functioning as project lead and liaison. As an Independent Advisor, he provided advisory services at technical and ministerial levels. As Executive Director, he led the Treaty Land Entitlement processes on behalf of 21 First Nations in Manitoba in collaboration with both the federal and provincial governments. As a Senior Mines and Minerals Analyst, he also worked for the Anishinabek of Ontario facilitating consultation processes within the Ontario Mining Act Modernization process. Mr. Braun also has extensive experience in government serving as a Senior Policy Analyst for Manitoba’s Department of Conservation and Water Stewardship working specifically on the Duty to Consult advising Interdepartmentally and on specific consultation processes at the ministerial and community level. Currently, Mr. Braun has joined the Mikisew Cree First Nation’s Government and Industry Relations office as the Manager, Government Relations and is managing general engagement and key formal consultation files with both federal and provincial government in the Alberta Oilsands region. He’s keen understanding of both federal and provincial policy and legislation allows him to function at an effective and efficient manner in collaboration with both the federal and provincial governments & within the context of Industry proponent projects and applications and policy and legislation review and creation. Mr. Braun’s experience with the Mikisew Cree and oilsands region provides a strong comprehension of federal impact assessment processes including formal Consultation and Accommodation methodologies and the assessment of potential impact to rights.
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Kate Darling
Kate Darling owns and operates Living Tree Law, a boutique law firm specializing in Indigenous rights advocacy; Treaty, self-government, intergovernmental and impact and benefit negotiations; Legislative co-development; Co-management and regulation of renewable and non-renewable resources; Public international law and cooperation; and, Corporate governance, policy development and training. Kate is currently based in Calgary, Alberta and is fortunate to support Indigenous clients – and those who want to be part of our collective reconciliation project – across Canada.
Prior to establishing Living Tree Law, Kate worked as General Counsel for the Inuvialuit Corporate Group, based in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, providing guidance in the areas of environmental law and regulation, offshore resource management and regulation, energy security, corporate and commercial matters, mergers and acquisitions, Indigenous rights, international trade and intergovernmental relations. Many moons ago, Kate worked for Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami as Senior Legal and Policy Advisor, based in Ottawa, Ontario. Almost before the dawn of time, Kate worked as legal counsel for the Government of Nunavut in the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division, based in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
Kate holds a B.A. (International Relations) from the University of British Columbia, an LL.B. from Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, an LL. M. (Public International Law) from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and a Protection Learning Program Certificate from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Kate is a member of the Law Society of Nunavut, the Law Society of Northwest Territories, the Law Society of Ontario, the Law Society of Alberta and the Nova Scotia Barristers Society.
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Pierre Gratton
Pierre Gratton was appointed President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) on June 1, 2011. Based in Ottawa, MAC is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members are engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication.
Prior to his appointment to MAC, Pierre was President and CEO of the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC). From 1999-2008, he served as Vice President, Sustainable Development and Public Affairs for the Mining Association of Canada (MAC). In this capacity, he was instrumental in the development of Towards Sustainable Mining, MAC’s flagship program that is gaining international recognition and adoption.
In 2005-06, Mr. Gratton was honoured as a Distinguished Lecturer for the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM).
Mr. Gratton is First Vice-President of the Interamerican Mining Society (SIM – Sociedad Interamericana de Mineria), Chair of the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame and the Co-chair of the Green Mining Initiative Advisory Committee. He also serves as a Trustee of the Arctic Inspiration Prize and on the Board of Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra.
Mr. Gratton holds an M.A. degree in political science, a B.A. from McGill University.
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Anna Johnston
Anna Johnston, BA, LLB, is a staff lawyer at West Coast Environmental Law, where she works on environmental impact assessment, cumulative effects and climate law.
Anna earned her law degree from the University of Victoria in 2010 after which she interned at the Institute of Environmental Law and Governance in Nairobi, Kenya. She then completed her articles at Ecojustice Canada. Called to the bar in 2011, Anna practiced as a sole practitioner in Aboriginal and environmental law before she joined West Coast in 2013. Currently, she is working towards a Masters of Law from Dalhousie University’s Schulich School of Law, where she is writing on federal jurisdiction over next generation environmental assessment.
Anna has represented community and Indigenous groups on environmental assessments of major energy projects in British Columbia and Alberta and has provided environmental legal education and support to communities across Canada. She co-chairs the Environmental Planning and Assessment Caucus of the Canadian Environmental Network, and is a former delegate to the Multi-Interest Advisory Committee appointed to assist the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change in reviewing and revising Canada’s federal environmental impact assessment processes.
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Dr. Diana Lewis
Dr. Diana Lewis is Mi’kmaw from the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia. She has been involved in environmental assessment for a number of years in various capacities and will bring an Indigenous perspective to the discussions around the implementation of the Impact Assessment Act.
She holds a Master of Resource and Environmental Management degree and a PhD from Dalhousie University and taught there for three years while developing the inaugural Indigenous Studies program for the school. Dr. Lewis’ doctoral research focused on employing appropriate indicators of health that reflect the impacts that Indigenous communities experience when they are displaced or dispossessed of their lands and environment.
Dr. Lewis has prepared submissions for environmental impact statements (i.e.: Bay du Nord Development Project, Boat Harbour Remediation Project) and participated in presentations to regulatory panels (i.e.: Muskrat Falls and Maritime Link Project, Nova Scotia Independent Review Panel on Hydraulic Fracturing). Dr. Lewis has participated on the Strategic Environmental Assessment Roundtable Bay of Fundy Tidal Energy Development, and developed several environmental assessment toolkits (energy, mining, nuclear waste management) for First Nations and the Native Women’s Association of Canada. She currently serves as one of two Canadian representatives on the Pacific Basin Consortium for Environment and Health.
Dr. Lewis has worked for tribal organizations, government, and the private sector and now works at Western University where she teaches in the Indigenous Studies and Geography and Environment programs and pursues research in the area of assessing human health risk assessment for Indigenous peoples. She co-leads Canada Institutes of Health Research’s Environments and Health Signature Initiative looking at the potential of renewable energy in Indigenous communities across Canada and is part of a team of co-authors on the upcoming Indigenous Resilience Stand-Alone Report: National Climate Assessment for the Assembly of First Nations.
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Martin Olszynski
Professor Martin Olszynski joined the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law in 2013, following several years of public service in environmental and natural resources law and policy. From 2007 to 2013, he was counsel with the federal Department of Justice, practicing law in the legal services unit at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. During this period, he also spent time on secondment to the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Division at Environment Canada.
Martin’s primary teaching and research interests are in environmental, natural resources, and water law and policy. His articles have been published in various journals, including the University of British Columbia Law Review, the Georgetown Environmental Law Review, the Osgoode Hall Law Journal and the Canadian Bar Review. He has also appeared as a witness in environmental hearings before both House of Commons and Senate committees.
Martin holds a B. Sc. (Biology) and an LL.B., both from the University of Saskatchewan, and an LL.M. (specialization in environmental law) from the University of California at Berkeley. He is currently pursuing a PhD in resource management at the University of British Columbia’s Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability. Following law school, Martin clerked for the Hon. Justice Denis Pelletier of the Federal Court of Appeal (2006).
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Somia Sadiq
Ms. Sadiq is a Certified Environmental Professional (EP) and a Registered Professional Planner (RPP), specializing in Impact Assessment, Community engagement, and Conflict Transformation informed and inspired by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Her sectors of experience include infrastructure (water control structures, treatment plants, transportation, recreation), energy (transmission, hydro, wind, solar), natural resources (mining extraction, processing, forestry, nuclear), industrial manufacturing, and food processing. She has experience with provincial, federal, territorial, and joint assessments across Canada as well as internationally.
Ms. Sadiq is the founder of Narratives Inc., an environmental consulting firm based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Prior to starting her own practice, Ms. Sadiq worked in various capacities for large multinational engineering and planning firms. As an entrepreneur, she brings experience in strategic planning, resource planning, corporate governance, and development of corporate policies. As an experienced negotiator, and an active member of Mediators Beyond Borders, a director on the Board of Directors for Mediation Services, and having represented and worked with various parties within an Impact Assessment context, Ms. Sadiq brings significant experience in consensus-based decision-making and dispute resolution.
Ms. Sadiq continues to deliver keynote addresses, lectures, and workshops, and is actively engaged in an advisory and volunteer capacity with several professional associations and academic institutions across the world.
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