Gib practises public law and civil litigation in Ottawa and Vancouver. He is an acknowledged authority on the application of international law in Canadian courts, and frequently acts in matters at the interface of domestic and international law. He is the former Executive Legal Officer at the Supreme Court of Canada, where he served as principal advisor to two chief justices. He serves as amicus curiae in national security proceedings before the Federal Court.
British Columbia (2004), Ontario (2018)
BA (McGill), MA (Cambridge), LLM (Toronto)
English, French
he/him
Gib handles a variety of public law matters including constitutional challenges, judicial reviews of administrative action and statutory appeals. He has also acted or advised in matters involving the regulation of judicial conduct.
Selected cases
British Columbia (Attorney General) v. Le 2023 BCCA 200: Gib acted for the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia in its successful administrative law challenge of a regulation imposing a cap on disbursements in motor vehicle claims.
Rorison v Insurance Corporation of British Columbia 2022 BCSC 624, 2023 BCCA 474: Gib is lead counsel for the plaintiffs in this proposed class proceeding against ICBC and the Province of British Columbia for losses to catastrophically injured motorists and ratepayers as a result of a scheme whereby ICBC purports to reimburse the Province for the cost of doctors’ visits. The chambers judge certified the accident victims claim but not the ratepayer claim. The Court of Appeal allowed our client’s appeal. The litigation continues.
Athletes 4 Athletes Foundation v Canada (National Revenue) 2021 FCA 145: Gib acted for a Canadian amateur athletic association in its successful challenge of a decision by the Canada Revenue Agency to refuse its registration under the Income Tax Act.
Prescient Foundation v Canada (National Revenue) 2013 FCA 120: Gib acted for the charity in this frequently cited decision on charitable revocation proceedings.
Gogol v Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal 2008 BCSC 489: Gib acted for the worker in this successful judicial review of a decision by the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal to deny temporary disability benefits.
Gib has been appointed amicus curiae to the Federal Court in a variety of reported and unreported national security matters including warrant applications, proceedings under s. 38 of the Canada Evidence Act and no-fly-list cases under the Secure Air Travel Act.
Selected cases
CSIS v Threat-Related Activities 2022 FC 1444: Gib was amicus in an application considering whether the Canadian Security Intelligence Service may deploy a particular new technology in specified ways without a warrant, both within and outside Canada. The Court determined that no principle of international law would prevent the Service from using the Technology abroad against foreign nationals with no nexus to Canada in more than minimally intrusive ways.
Boloh 1(A) v Canada 2023 FC 98: Gib acted as amicus curiae in the ex parte portion of these proceedings concerning the detention of Canadian nationals by non-state actors in northern Syria.
In 2023, Gib led a successful challenge to his client’s placement on the no-fly list under the Secure Air Travel Act. The listing was reversed and the client has resumed international air travel without incident.
Brar and Dulai SATA proceedings 2021 FC 932, 2021 FC 933, 2022 FC 1163, 2022 FC 1164, 2022 FC 1168: Gib was one of two amici curiae appointed by the court for the ex parte portions of these challenges to decisions of the Minister of Public Safety to include the appellants on the no-fly list under the Secure Air Travel Act.
Brar v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) 2020 FC 729 and Gaya v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) 2020 FC 731: Gib acted as amicus curiae in two proceedings under the Secure Air Travel Act in which the Federal Court considered at length the proper role and function of amici in national security matters.
Gib’s writings on the reception of public international law in Canadian courts have often been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada and other Canadian courts. He has frequently acted for interveners at the Supreme Court on international law issues. Gib led the international law challenge to Canada’s extradition proceedings against Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou.
Selected cases
R v McGregor 2023 SCC 4: Gib acted for the BC Civil Liberties Association in this appeal concerning the extraterritorial application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. His writings on this point were cited in the decision. Gib’s oral argument is here starting at 1:23:30.
Quebec (Attorney General) v 9147-0732 Québec inc 2020 SCC 32: Gib acted for the BC Civil Liberties Association on the interpretation of s. 12 of the Charter in the light of Canada’s international human rights obligations and the decisions of international tribunals. Gib’s oral argument is here starting at 1:14:50.
Meng extradition proceedings: Gib argued that the US request that Canada extradite Meng Wanzhou to face US fraud charges was contrary to the customary international law of state jurisdiction. The US abandoned the proceedings before judgment was rendered. A Vancouver Sun report of Gib’s opening submissions is here.
Divito v Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness)2013 SCC 47: Gib acted for the BC Civil Liberties Association on the right to enter Canada under s. 6(1) of the Charter and international human rights law.
Selected writings
“POGG and Treaties: The Role of International Agreements in National Concern Analysis” (2020) 43:2 Dalhousie Law Journal 901
“The Domestic Application of International Law in Canada” in C. Bradley, ed., Oxford Handbook of Comparative Foreign Relations Law (Oxford University Press, 2019)
With P. Saunders, R. Currie, J. Brunnée and others, International Law Chiefly as Interpreted and Applied in Canada, 9th ed. (Emond Publishing, 2019)
“The Reception of International Law in Canada: Three Ways We Might Go Wrong” in O. Fitzgerald, V. Hughes and M. Jewett, eds., Reflections on Canada’s Past, Present and Future in International Law (McGill-Queens University Press, 2018)
“A suitable population: British Columbia’s Japanese Treaty Act litigation, 1920-1923” (2017) 3(1) Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law 133
“Torture and the Supreme Court of Canada” (2014) 65 University of New Brunswick Law Journal 21
“Canada” in D. Sloss, ed., The Role of Domestic Courts in Treaty Enforcement: a Comparative Study (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009)
Using International Law in Canadian Courts, 2nd ed. (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2008)
With S. Matiation, “Labour Conventions and Comprehensive Claim Agreements: A New Model for Subfederal Participation in Canadian International Treaty-Making” in O. Fitzgerald (ed.), The Globalized Rule of Law: Relationships between International and Domestic Law (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006) 203
“The admissibility of international legal evidence” (2005) 84 Canadian Bar Review 31
With Mark Freeman, International Human Rights Law (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2004)
“The legal character of provincial agreements with foreign governments” (2001) 24 Les Cahiers de Droit 1093
“Canadian Cases in Public International Law”, annual contribution to the Canadian Yearbook of International Law, 2004-present
Gib represents and advises clients on the meaning and legal status of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canadian law.
Selected cases
Reference re An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families 2024 SCC 5: Gib acted for the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, the First Nations Summit of British Columbia and British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, intervening, in this appeal from a reference to the Quebec Court of Appeal on the constitutionality of An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families SC 2019 c 24. Gib’s oral argument is here starting at 2:43:15.
Selected publications
With Laura Abrioux, “Ensuring consistency with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: the need for a joint audit of existing laws” (2022) 80:1 The Advocate 23–28
“The impression of harmony: Bill C-262 and the implementation of the UNDRIP in Canadian law” 2018 CanLIIDocs 252 (2018)
“Three good reasons why UNDRIP can’t be law—and one good reason why it can” (2017) 75:1 The Advocate 29-36
Gib acts in a variety of private law matters including estates litigation, breach of contract claims, negligence actions and real estate disputes.
Selected cases
Revelstoke (City) v Gelowitz 2023 BCCA 139: Gib successfully defended an appeal by the City of Revelstoke from a negligence decision arising from a diving accident at a city park. The Court of Appeal confirmed that the city owed park visitors a duty to warn them of known risks associated with the use of the park facility.
Arnold v Arnold 2019 ONSC 3679, 2019 ONSC 6097, 2022 ONSC 5695: Gib acted for two brothers, allied in interest with their mother, in an ultimately unsuccessful claim by a third brother concerning the management of the mother’s estate. The case involved undue influence, powers of attorney and capacity issues under the Substitute Decisions Act (Ontario).
Mowatt v British Columbia (Attorney General) 2014 BCSC 988, 2014 BCSC 2219, 2016 BCCA 113: Gib acted for the Mowatts in this adverse possession claim—the first to be heard by the BC Court of Appeal in over fifty years. The case went on to the Supreme Court of Canada (2017 SCC 8) but Gib was precluded from acting as he was by then serving as the court’s Executive Legal Officer.
Phillips v Keefe 2010 BCSC 2005, 2012 BCCA 123: Gib was co-counsel in this successful trespass claim arising from a boundary dispute involving an historic fence line and a survey plan from 1893.
Gulston v Aldred 2010 BCSC 241, 2011 BCSC 1051, 2011 BCCA 147: Gib was counsel for the defendant/plaintiff by counterclaim in this summary trial and appeal arising from a failed residential property transaction. Gib obtained a large judgment against the buyer. The appeal was dismissed.
Aldred v Colbeck 2010 BCSC 57: Gib was trial counsel in this successful claim for recovery of environmental remediation costs against the previous owners of a residential property contaminated by an underground oil storage tank. This was the first successful claim by a homeowner under BC’s Environmental Management Act, a statute previously invoked only in industrial contamination claims.
ASEAN Technology Partners Inc v National Research Council of Canada 2007 BCSC 1539, 2009 BCCA 126: Gib was counsel for the plaintiff in this successful claim for damages for breach of contract against a federal agency. The agency’s appeal was dismissed.
Selected publications
“Three Obstacles to a Successful Cost Recovery Action in Residential Oil Tank Cases” (2014) 72:4 The Advocate 503-508
In his capacity as Executive Legal Officer at the Supreme Court of Canada (2015–18), Gib served as chief of staff, in-house counsel and media relations officer for two Chief Justices of Canada.
Gib is a former secretary of the National Judicial Institute (2015-2018), the organization responsible for training and providing continuing legal education to superior court and appellate judges.
Gib currently serves as president of the Canadian Council on International Law. He has previously served a member of the Council’s board, as well as a director of the International Commission of Jurists Canada (2014-2018).
Gib often serves as faculty in judicial training seminars and continuing professional development programs for lawyers across Canada.
Best Lawyers in Canada 2021 to 2024 – recognized for Corporate and Commercial Litigation