John Stefaniuk engages in a broad practice with emphasis on environmental law, real estate and development law, natural resources and energy, commercial law and municipal law matters. He has particular experience in relation to contaminated sites, mining and mine rehabilitation, wind power development, natural resource development, environmental approvals and licensing, commercial real estate, leasing, financing and development, municipal approvals, taxation and assessment and business acquisitions. He appears regularly before government licensing bodies and administrative tribunals including the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission and Municipal Board, municipal councils, provincial legislative committees and in all levels of court in Manitoba and in the Federal Court in connection with environmental, resource, regulatory municipal, and property issues.

John has been listed in the Lexpert®/American Lawyer Guide to the 500 Leading Lawyers in Canada. He is also listed in the Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory under Environmental Law and Property Development and is listed in the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, under Environment, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Environmental Lawyers and the National Post-Best Lawyers in Canada directory, among other listings. He is a roster member of the Canadian Centre for Environmental Arbitration and Mediation. 

Education

University of Manitoba, B. Comm. (Hons.) 1984, LL.B. 1987

Call to the Bar

Manitoba, 1988

Representative Cases/Transactions

Counsel to a historic mine operator in the settlement of a potential $42 Million environmental rehabilitation liability.

Counsel to The Toronto-Dominion Bank and local counsel to the Bentall Group in the recent $69 million sale of their respective interests in the Winnipeg TD Centre development. John was also local counsel to the Bank on the purchase financing.

Co-counsel with James Edmond to IPSCO Recycling Inc., General Scrap & Car Shredder and others in the successful defence of a novel injunction application advanced by HMQ Canada under s.311 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, resulting in a ½ million dollar award in costs against Environment Canada.

Counsel to The City of Brandon and Maple Leaf Foods Inc. before the Manitoba Clean Environment Commission at the 2003 hearing held in relation to the expansion of Brandon’s municipal sewage treatment plant to accommodate Maple Leaf’s second shift.

Achievements

John is a Life Council Member of the Manitoba Bar Association.

Publications and Presentations

John is a frequent presenter on topical legal issues. He has given presentations for the CBA, the Law Society of Manitoba, the Canadian Waste Management Association, the Manitoba Environmental Industries Association, the Canadian Geotechnical Society, Enviro-Test Laboratories, the Toronto-Dominion Bank and others.

Love Me Tenderer: Municipalities, Tendering and the Law, Municipal Leader Magazine, Fall 2008

Chair and presenter, Property Development, Lorman Education, 2008

Municipalities and the Constitution, Municipal Leader Magazine, Spring 2008

Caution with Precaution, Municipal Leader Magazine, Fall 2007

Chair and presenter, EPIC Professional Education Environmental Law and Regulation course, 200

The New Planning Act, presenter, 2006 Manitoba Planning Conference

Panellist, Appearing as an Expert Witness, 2006 Aquatic Toxicity Workshop, Jasper, Alberta

Moderator, Corporate Social Responsibility Panel, NEERLS annual continuing legal education, Vancouver, 2005

Civil Injunction Powers Tried Under Environmental Statute, The Lawyers Weekly, April 30 2004

The Use Of Injunctions As An Enforcement Tool: A Case Study Under Section 311 Of The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, annual CBA Environmental/Natural Resources Law education program, Halifax, March 2004

Development Agreements: Overview and Selected Legal Issues, annual Province of Manitoba Planning Conference, March 2004

Regulatory Liability and Due Diligence, Manitoba Heavy Construc­tion Association, December, 2003

Liability for Municipal Facilities, with Lynda Troup, Municipal Leader magazine, September 2003

Overview Of Drinking Water Quality Regulation In The Prairie Provinces, CBA National Symposium on Water Law, Vancouver, March, 2003

Legal Issues in Intensive Livestock Operations, Manitoba Bar Asso­ciation Midwinter Meeting, January 30, 2003

Municipalities and The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, presented with Antoine Hacault, annual convention of the Association of Manitoba Municipalities, November 2003

Chair of the Law Society of Manitoba Continuing Legal Education Program, Recent Developments in Environmental Law and Practice, September 2002

Confidentiality and the Provision of Information to Environmental Regulatory Authorities, Law Society of Manitoba Continuing Legal Education, September, 2002

Recipient of a grant from the Legal Research Foundation in recog­nition of the paper Environmental Law Basics For Lawyers: Selected Topics (International Agreements, Private Prosecutions And Topical Cases) August 2002

Moderator and Presenter at the Canadian Bar Association Annual General Meeting, London, Ontario program Environmental Law Primer for Lawyers, presenting the paper titled Environmental Law Basics For Lawyers: Selected Topics (International Agreements, Private Prosecutions And Topical Cases), August 2002

The Green Greenfields of Home: Contaminated Sites Legislation in the Prairie Provinces - An Overview, Canadian Bar Association National Environmental Law Section Annual Continuing Legal Education Program, Toronto, April 2002

A Halloween Treat: Federal Legislation and Other Scary Stuff Annual Technical Meeting of the Canadian Prairie and Northern Section of the Air and Waste Management Association, October 31, 2001

Going Fishing In Turbid Waters: How The Fisheries Act Can Catch You, the Canadian national Aquatic Toxicity Workshop, October 2001

Co-editor, Canadian Bar Association National Environmental Law Section national newsletter, EcoBulletin, 1999-2001

CBA Annual Meeting, Saskatoon, Random Musings on Intensive Livestock Operations, August 2001

Environmental Liability of Officers and Directors and exercising Due Diligence, Asper School of Business MBA program, March, 2001

Contaminated Site, Eh? (or LUST Canadian Style) American Bar Association International Environmental Law Committee Newsletter Vol. 2, No. 4., July, 2000

Legal Teachings

John is a founding organizer of the annual Environmental Law Forum. He is a frequent presenter at Law Society of Manitoba continuing legal education programs and is an occasional lecturer in Environmental Law and Municipal and Planning Law.

Professional Associations

John was President of the Manitoba Bar Association in 2005-2006 and served on the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Board of Directors the following year. John was Organizing Committee Chair for the successful 2004 Canadian Legal Conference and Expo in Winnipeg. He serves on the CBA Supreme Court of Canada Liaison Committee.

John is a past Chair CBA National Environmental Energy and Resources Law Section (NEERLS) Executive. He was co-editor of the NEERLS national newsletter, Ecobulletin, and has co-chaired three of NEERLS’ national CLEs. He chairs the NEERLS Legislation and Law Reform Committee. He is a past Chair of the MBA’s Environmental Law Section and its Municipal Law Section.

John is Chair of the Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board that deals with dispositions of accused who are found not criminally responsible. He served on the Province of Manitoba’s Planning Act Review Task Force, a task group to study the use of administrative monetary penalties for regulatory offences and on an advisory group dealing with The Contaminated Sites Remediation Act.

Community Involvement and Other Affiliations

John is Honorary Counsel to the Family Centre of Winnipeg and he serves on the Fundraising Cabinet for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights