Cheryl Sharvit

Associate, Mandell Pinder LLP

Phone: 604.566.8561
cheryl@mandellpinder.com

Assistant:  Monica Shackelly | monica@mandellpinder.com


Profile

Cheryl practices aboriginal law with a particular focus on natural resource issues.  Prior to joining Mandell Pinder LLP, she was legal counsel with EAGLE (Environmental-Aboriginal Guardianship through Law and Education), where she worked on litigation and education programs related to aboriginal rights, natural resource and environmental issues.

Cheryl has represented clients in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Court of Appeal for British Columbia and Supreme Court of Canada.  She has also been involved in tribunal work, including the Forest Appeals Commission and the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.  She was on the legal team representing the Haida Nation in Haida Nation et al. v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests) et al. (2002), 99 B.C.L.R. (3d) 209 (B.C.C.A.); [2004] 3 S.C.R. 511, a case which ultimately went to the Supreme Court of Canada.  The case established the legal duty on the Crown to consult with and accommodate First Nations concerning the harvesting of timber within traditional lands as part of the process of "fair dealing and reconciliation". 

While completing her Masters of Law degree in Calgary (1995-1998), Cheryl taught an environmental law course.  She collaborated with a researcher at the Canadian Institute of Resource Law (an independent body within the Faculty of Law) and with professors in the Faculty of Law to publish articles and book chapters related to aboriginal law, environmental law, natural resources law and constitutional law.  She also edited and updated law school texts and texts for practitioners in the area of environmental law.

Cheryl also practices employment law, assisting First Nation governments and organizations with employment contracts and policies, and working with them to resolve conflicts and disputes arising in their employment relationships.


Education

LL.M Natural Resource and Aboriginal Law, University of Calgary, 1999
   
LL.B Osgoode Hall Law School, 1995
   
B.A. York University, 1992

 

Professional Standing

Member, Law Society of B.C. (1999)


Selected Publications

"Remedies in Aboriginal Law Litigation" prepared for a conference hosted by the Pacific Business and Law Institute, April 7-8, 2011.

"Review of Changes to the Law Related to Forestry and Aboriginal Rights and Title" (2008) for the Scow Institute.

"Constitutional Powers", Chapter 3 in Canadian Environmental Law, Second Edition (looseleaf publication).

"Aboriginal Peoples' Legal Rights to Natural Resources (Forests) in British Columbia" (2004) for the Scow Institute.

"Underlying Constraints on Intergovernmental Cooperation in Setting and Enforcing Environmental Standards" in P. Fafard and K. Harrison, eds., Managing the Environmental Union: Intergovernmental Relations and Environment Policy in Canada (Kingston: Queen's University, 2000) (co-authored with Alastair Lucas).

"Forest Management in Alberta and Rights to Hunt, Trap and Fish Under Treaty 8" (1998), 36 Alb. Law Rev., 645 (co-authored with Monique M. Ross).

Aboriginal Title and Free Entry Mining Regimes in Northern Canada (Northern Minerals Programme Working Paper 2 ) (Ottawa: Canadian Arctic Resources Committee, 1998) (co-authored with Nigel Bankes).

Review of John O'Neill, Ecology, Policy and Politics: Human Well-Being and the Natural World (1996), 11 Can. J. Law & Soc., 315.


Other Activities

Board of Directors, West Coast Environmental Law.

Past Board Member, False Creek Watershed Society.

Past Board Member, Adam va-Adamah Environmental Society.