Lawyer Profile
Robin M. Junger
Vancouver, British Columbia
Overview
Robin Junger is a Harvard Law School graduate and a nationally recognized authority on environmental and Indigenous law. He is a trusted advisor to clients in the energy, mining, forestry and oil and gas sectors, and to First Nations, property developers and governments. Chambers Global, Lexpert, Best Lawyers and Benchmark consistently recognize Robin as a leading lawyer in these areas, and his views are frequently sought and quoted by media.
Robin focusses on his clients’ broadest interests, working to find consensus between companies, Indigenous groups and governments using creative and practical approaches. He also works extensively with corporate, commercial and tax colleagues to develop, structure and implement various forms of agreements, joint ventures and equity participation between companies and Indigenous groups. At the same time, he is a strong defender of the rule of law and has a proven track record of holding government and regulators accountable, including through litigation where necessary.
Robin’s background is unique with more than 25 years of experience practicing law and having served inside government at the most senior levels – Deputy Minister of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources, Deputy Minister of Energy and Clean Technology, head of the Environmental Assessment Office, Chair of the Oil and Gas Commission, and Chief Provincial Treaty Negotiator. His substantive areas of work cover the full range of environmental and Indigenous law including environmental assessment, permitting, compliance, contaminated sites, Environmental Appeal Board hearings, mineral / forest / land tenures, capacity funding agreements, exploration agreements, advanced exploration agreements, impact benefit agreements and all related business structures and anti-corruption requirements.
Co-management provisions in recent proposed treaties raise new uncertainties as they significantly depart from the approach taken in prior treaties.
Amidst discussion of the Cowichan Tribes and Gitxaala cases lurks another significant legal issue: how do recent treaty agreements stack up against those cases?
The BC government has announced an intention to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. It remains unclear where matters will land.
This bulletin examines the legal uncertainty surrounding the application of British Columbia’s provincial laws to lands where Aboriginal title has been declared.
A new land use process in Northwestern BC may create areas where exploration activities are disallowed, resulting in possible claims for compensation by miners.
Practice Areas
Bar Information
Called to the bar: 1994 (BC); 2004 (YT)