Lexpert®Ranked Lawyers
Hull, Robert G.S.
Gowling Lafl eur
Henderson LLP
(416) 369-7313
robert.hull@
gowlings.com
Mr. Hull specializes
in infrastructure/
energy fund formation
on behalf of both
managers/sponsors
and institutional
investors. He also
represents domestic
and international
clients active in the
Canadian infrastructure
and energy sectors.
Jenkins, William K.
Dentons Canada LLP
(403) 268-6835
bill.jenkins@
dentons.com
Mr. Jenkins represents
borrowers or lenders
in connection with
domestic or cross-
border project
fi nancings, syndicated
credit facilities, private
or public placements
of debt securities
and joint ventures,
particularly in energy
and transportation.
Johnson, Philippe
Davies Ward Phillips
& Vineberg LLP
(514) 841-6501
pjohnson@dwpv.com
Mr. Johnson is
a partner in the
Corporate/Commercial,
M&A, Commercial
Real Estate &
Infrastructure practices.
He is advising CSX
Transportation, a
leading North American
railway company,
with respect to its
development of various
projects in Quebec.
Hurley, John
Gowling Lafl eur
Henderson LLP
(514) 392-9431
john.hurley@
gowlings.com
Mr. Hurley has
extensive experience
in commercial law, with
special emphasis on
First Nations, energy
and infrastructure,
government relations,
regulatory matters,
environmental law
and international
development.
Johannsen,
Helmut K.
Fasken Martineau
DuMoulin LLP
(604) 631-4819
hjohannsen@
fasken.com
Mr. Johannsen,
also a professional
engineer, focuses
on construction law
including infrastructure,
PPP, procurement,
dispute resolution,
litigation, insurance
and contracts.
His experience
incorporates hydro,
rapid transit, LNG and
pipeline projects.
Johnston, R. Brock
Clark Wilson LLP
(604) 643-3116
rbj@cwilson.com
Mr. Johnston advises
government, public
organizations and
the private sector
on publicly funded
infrastructure projects,
including rapid transit,
waste water treatment,
biofuels, bridges,
university buildings,
sports facilities and
hospitals.
The North | 19
to keep the existing fl eet running, QEC has been urged by
some ratepayers to fi nd alternative fi nancing methods to
build zero-emissions hydro plants. But hydro generators
and transmission lines would cost additional hundreds of
millions, at least.
"Everything is amplifi ed in the North," says Paul Blundy,
infrastructure expert with Bennett Jones LLP in Toronto.
Projects are more costly to build and operate, and very short
shipping and construction seasons multiply the costs of the
smallest delay or procurement oversight.
"Everything that makes P3s a good idea in the South is
amplifi ed in the North," Blundy says. In a vast, remote land-
scape with a tiny population – some 35,500 people in all of
Nunavut – government revenues are stretched to breaking.
And debt fi nancing for needed infrastructure is rarely an
option because Ottawa imposes debt caps on the territo-
rial governments of Nunavut and the Northwest Territo-
ries (NWT).
In the cash-constrained North, public-private participa-
tion (P3) models – where private investors fund up-front
design, procurement, construction, operations and mainte-
nance in return for an annual government reimbursement
over 20 or 30 years – can be especially attractive, Blundy
says. In a typical P3, government off -loads risk by locking
in a contracted annual payment for the life of the project.
e contracting government avoids lumpy capital outlays
and acquires private-sector operating and maintenance ex-
pertise it might otherwise lack.
Blundy says the big challenge to Northern P3s is always
identifying a signifi cant, long-term revenue stream, either
from user tolls or government funding.
" e heart of the northern infrastructure challenge is
money," says Scott Northey. " e more they need the infra-
structure, the less money they have to fund it."
Northey is COO of the Nunavut Resources Corporation
(NRC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Kitikmeot Inuit
Association, formed in 2010 to fi nd innovative ways to fund
resource development projects in Nunavut. In its eff ort to
prime the pump of Northern development, he says, NRC
uses a modifi ed P3 formula.
"If you're a mining company, you [typically] put in a
$3-billion project with a $1-billion road," Northey explains.
If NRC takes on the road as a separate project, it suddenly
makes the mine a lot more likely to proceed, with all its jobs,
training and taxes. NRC fi nds a private-sector partner to
invest in the road and seeks to access government funds for
