Gary A. Letcher

Gary Letcher* has been at the center of many of the most important environmental issues in B.C. for some 30 years.  He is recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada as the Environmental Lawyer of the Year in Vancouver for 2021. He has been recognized for environmental law since the inception of Canadian rankings in each annual edition of The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, Best Lawyers In Canada, Lexpert, Chambers Global and The Legal 500 Canada.

Mr. Letcher’s practice encompasses a wide range of environmental law issues including contaminated sites, compliance, sustainability and corporate governance, air contaminant and odour management, recycling and waste management and environmental assessment and permitting.

Mr. Letcher has acted as advisor and counsel on a range of significant contaminated site matters and acted as lead counsel for a multi-national corporation in the resolution of the Britannia Mine contaminated site matter.  Mr. Letcher acted for the Mining Association of British Columbia and AME B.C. in the 2010 Supreme Court of Canada Red Chris matter.  In 2014, Mr. Letcher acted for the Nisga’a Nation in litigation involving important aboriginal law and environmental law issues.

Mr. Letcher has appeared before a range of administrative tribunals and acted as lead counsel for the successful party on a number of significant matters before the British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board including West Coast Reduction Ltd. v. District Director of the Greater Vancouver Regional District; Worthington MacKenzie Inc. v. Director, Environmental Management Act; B.C. Rail Company v. Director of Waste Management and Nexen Inc.; Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. v. Director of Waste Management and B.C. Rail Company; and Seaspan ULC v. Director, Environmental Management Act and Domtar Inc. et al. Mr. Letcher also acted as lead counsel for a successful Appellant in the 2019 Alberta Environmental Appeals Board Cherokee Canada et al v. Director Red Deer North Saskatchewan Region, Alberta Environment and Parks.  Mr. Letcher served as commission counsel to the B.C. Royal Commission into Uranium Mining and to the B.C. Wilderness Advisory Committee.

Mr. Letcher chaired the ground-breaking climate change City of Vancouver Clouds of Change committee and is a founding roster member of the Canadian Centre for Environmental Arbitration and Mediation. He served as National Chair of the Administrative Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association.  He is a frequent speaker to industry and the profession and is a past adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law where he taught Resource Use Decision-Making and Sustainability.

*Personal Law Corporation