20 LEXPERT
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2016
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WWW.LEXPERT.CA
Hudec, Albert J. Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP
(604) 661-9356 ahudec@farris.com
Mr. Hudec's energy law practice focuses on legal issues relating to the
BC LNG liquefaction and associated upstream and natural gas pipeline
industries, wind power and run-of-river hydro projects and alternative energy
technologies; including acquisitions, financing, contracting, regulatory
and Aboriginal issues. He is an experienced practitioner with a depth of
understanding on energy law issues.
Howie, Kent D. Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
(403) 232-9535 khowie@blg.com
Mr. Howie counsels a broad range of oil & gas and electricity clients on LNG
projects, oil & gas projects, including offshore oil projects, pipeline projects,
and large hydro, natural gas and renewable energy projects involving joint
ventures with First Nations.
Herman, Michael Gowling WLG
(416) 369-7281 michael.herman@gowlingwlg.com
Mr. Herman is an M&A partner and strategic advisor. He acts for a wide range
of clients, including entrepreneurial, privately held companies and mid-
market investment and financial institutions.
Herbst, Ludmila B. Farris, Vaughan,
Wills & Murphy LLP (604) 661-1722 lherbst@farris.com
Ms. Herbst is a litigator whose practice focuses on commercial, regulatory
and constitutional cases. She represents clients before all levels of court,
arbitrators and tribunals such as the BC Utilities Commission. She has been
counsel on matters related to rate design, revenue requirements, project
development, power supply, capital expenditures and many other energy-
related matters.
Henderson, Philip J. Stikeman Elliott LLP
(416) 869-5691 phenderson@stikeman.com
Mr. Henderson's practice focuses primarily on corporate finance, capital
markets, M&A and securities law matters. He is co-head of the firm's
Financial Products & Services Group and advises clients on complex
corporate and securities law matters in a variety of sectors including financial
institutions, energy, investment funds, structured products and derivatives.
Heard, Joel A. Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
(416) 862-6847 jheard@osler.com
Mr. Heard's practice focuses on construction law in relation to energy,
infrastructure and other large capital projects. He advises clients
on contract documentation, risk identification and mitigation, project
structuring, procurement, operations and maintenance, financing
and project execution issues.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
lines would be subject to the new interim-review pro-
cess, which includes consultations with affected com-
munities and indigenous groups on issues outside the
National Energy Board's jurisdiction. e new review
kicks in aer the NEB report is complete, and includes a
separate review of the "direct and upstream greenhouse
gas emissions linked to the projects." It must be com-
pleted before the project can be approved by Cabinet.
"I think the effects of both that and the First Nations
stuff mean that we're facing longer and more complicat-
ed approval paths for new projects. On top of all that, we
have the commodity-price situation, which is not good,"
says Donald Greenfield, an energy practitioner at Ben-
nett Jones LLP in Calgary. "Ultimately, what this boils
down to is economics, and right now LNG imported
into Japan is not fetching enough money to pay for proj-
ects in Western Canada." He expects that will change
when commodity prices turn up again. e Liberal gov-
ernment is pinning its expectations on a different horse.
It plans to try to shi Canada away from a resource-
based economy to one that embraces knowledge-based
areas like high-tech, but that's not going to happen over-
night, nor is the need for fossil fuels.
If Ottawa really wants to get Canada's landlocked oil
and gas to refineries and ports, Greenfield says it is really
going to have to "step up" and bring the national posi-
tion to bear on these projects, making the case for how
important they are to the economy. "People say they
don't want pipelines in their backyards but they're obvi-
ously a safer way to transport oil than by rail."
Provincial governments are also key, he adds. Ottawa
could push for more cooperation on individual projects
because, as things stand now, energy companies are see-
ing a maddening increase in federal-provincial regula-
tory duplication. In January, for example, a BC court
held in Coastal First Nations v. British Columbia that the
province had to do its own environmental assessment
and consult First Nations on the Northern Gateway
Project instead of deferring to the federal environmental
assessment and consultation processes — which had
- Erik Richer La Flèche, Stikeman Elliott LLP
"Today, it has become
easier to do a project
in an emerging market than
to do a complex project in
Canada. The regulatory risk
— and I'm talking about the
pipelines, the transmission
lines — across borders
is quite great."
