Martindale-Hubbell Biography
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CURRICULUM VITAE FOR
SIMON P. BARKER |
PROFILE: Simon Barker's law practice is purposely restricted to transportation law , and maritime law in particular, and insurance law involving transportation issues. He is a sole practitioner working in association with a law firm in Western Canada, Oland & Co. of Kelowna, British Columbia. He is also counsel to the marine practice group at McCague Borlack LLP, a law firm in Toronto, Ontario.
Prior to August 2004 Mr. Barker was employed by a law firm in Central Canada, Fernandes Hearn LLP of Toronto, Ontario. Prior to joining Fernandes Hearn LLP, Mr. Barker worked for Oland & Co. of Vancouver, British Columbia. Prior to that Mr. Barker worked for the Department of Justice, Canada and served as counsel to Transport Canada and in particular to the Canadian Coast Guard.
Mr. Barker received his early academic training in the United Kingdom where he obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Law and a Masters Degree in Law from the University of Wales. He obtained his Canadian Law Degree from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.
Today and while at both Oland & Co. in Vancouver and Fernandes Hearn LLP in Toronto, Mr. Barker purposely restricts his practice to transportation law matters.
Over the course of the last 22 years, Mr. Barker's clients have included both the private and public sector.
While at the Department of Justice Canada, Mr. Barker was involved in number of legislative drafting exercises. He helped draft amendments to the Canada Shipping Act implementing into Canada's domestic legislation international conventions such as the OPRC Convention, the Tonnage Convention, SOLAS and MARPOL. He also helped draft a number of regulations and technical standards thereby providing specifics to what are otherwise very general provisions in the international conventions.
In 2002 Mr. Barker helped the South Pacific Commission, a regional organization, draft ship safety regulations for the South Pacific region based upon the international SOLAS Convention.
In the Spring of 2004 Mr. Barker worked with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cyprus as part of a team working towards the proposed re-unification of the island. Mr. Barker's role while in Cyprus was to chair a technical working committee comprised of Turkish and Greek Cypriots drafting fifty (50) marine related laws needed in the event that the island is re-united.
EDUCTATION:
1991
1988
1985 |
Bachelor of Law Degree
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Master of Law Degree
University of Wales Institute of Science & Technology
Bachelor of Law Degree
University College of Cardiff, Wales |
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS Law Society of Upper Canada, Call to the Bar of Ontario 1993
Law Society of British Columbia, Call to the Bar of British Columbia 2000 (Non-Practising)
Peterborough Law Association
Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Maritime Law Association
Vancouver Maritime Arbitrators Association, Associate Member
Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters, Associate Member
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
2004 - to date
2003 - 2004
1999 - 2003
1992 - 1999
1991 - 1992
1988 - 1990
1985 - 1988 |
Simon Barker
Barrister & Solicitor
Peterborough, Ontario
Sole Practitioner
Fernandes Hearn LLP
Barristers and Solicitors
Toronto, Ontario
Associate Lawyer
Oland & Co.
Barristers and Solicitors
Vancouver, British Columbia
Associate Lawyer
Department of Justice, Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
Counsel, Transport Canada,
Legal Services and Fisheries and Oceans, Legal Services
Barnes, Sammon, Naftel
Barristers and Solicitors
Ottawa, Ontario
Articling Student
Marsh & McLennan Ltd. (now Marsh Canada)
Vancouver, British Columbia
Insurance Broker/Marketer, Marine Department
Robins, Davies and Little Ltd.
Brighton/Croydon, England
Cardiff, Wales
Insurance Loss Adjuster |
PROFESSIONAL ASSIGNMENTS:
Simon Barker, Barrister and Solicitor Mr. Barker's practice today is purposely restricted to transportation law, and maritime law in particular, and insurance law involving transportation issues, and is a mixture of litigation and solicitor's advice. Mr. Barker represents varied interests in the transportation chain such as ship-owners, cargo interests, freight forwarders, NVOCCs, marine underwriters, marine surveyors, terminal operators, ship fumigation companies, oil spill response organizations, environmental groups, government agencies and a number of law firms, both domestic and international.
Mr. Barker's work on occasion takes him out of the office conducting investigations, inspections and participating in exercises and drills.
Fernandes Hearn LLP
Mr. Barker's practice while at Fernandes Hearn LLP in Toronto was also restricted to transportation law and insurance law involving transportation issues, and was again a mixture of litigation and solicitor's advice. The firm represented varied interests in the transportation chain such as cargo interests, freight forwarders, NVOCCs, and warehousemen as well as actual carriers in disputes arising from both the domestic and international carriage of goods by all modes of transport.
In the spring of 2004 Mr. Barker worked with the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in Cyprus as part of a team working towards the proposed re-unification of the island. Mr. Barker¿s role while in Cyprus was to chair a technical working committee comprised of Turkish and Greek Cypriots drafting fifty (50) marine related laws needed in the event that the island is re-united
Oland & Co.
Mr. Barker's practice at Oland & Co. in Vancouver was equally as diverse. Those cases that involved the worldwide movement of cargo included, for example, the carriage of cargoes of chilled apples moving from Washington State, USA to Rotterdam, Holland first by truck, then rail, then deep sea carrier; mining machinery moving by rail from Peterborough, Ontario to a mine site in Chile; textiles moving by truck, deep sea and again by truck from Mumbai, India to Toronto, Ontario; yellow and green peas in bulk moving by sea from Vancouver, British Columbia to Mumbai, India and hi-tech equipment moving by truck from Silicone Valley in California, USA to Toronto, Ontario.
In addition to representing clients with cargo interests, his practice included collisions at sea, tug and tow accidents, vessel capsizes, oil pollution and response, ship fumigation, pilotage tariffs, advice to marine insurers regarding marine insurance coverage issues, vessel priority claims, port issues and ship repair liability claims.
In 2002, Mr. Barker helped the South Pacific Commission, a regional organization, draft ship safety regulations for the South Pacific region based upon the international SOLAS Convention.
Advocacy
Mr. Barker has appeared as counsel in the Federal Court of Canada, the Ontario Superior Court, the Ontario Divisional Court, the Ontario Court of Justice, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and before the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Department of Justice Canada
While with the Department of Justice Canada, Mr. Barker served as counsel to Transport Canada and in particular to the Canadian Coast Guard.
While at Transport Canada Mr. Barker assisted the Department of Transport and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to determine whether Canada should ratify the Law of the Sea Convention, 1982.
During his tenure with Transport Canada, Mr. Barker was frequently consulted regarding the domestic application of various international conventions such as SOLAS, MARPOL, the Salvage Convention 1989, OPRC, the Civil Liability Convention, HNS, Loadlines, the Tonnage Convention and others.
While at the Department of Justice Canada, Mr. Barker was involved in a number of legislative drafting exercises. As counsel to the Canadian Coast Guard Mr. Barker acted as an intermediary between the Department of Justice drafters from the Legislation/Regulations Section of the Department and instructing officers in the Canadian Coast Guard. In 1993 Mr. Barker assisted with amendments to the Canada Shipping Act and the Act's underlying regulations and technical standards to implement Canada's ratification of the OPRC Convention.
During the 1990's Mr. Barker also assisted in drafting amendments to implement Canada's obligations under the SOLAS Convention, the MARPOL Convention and the Tonnage Convention.
At the Canadian Coast Guard, Mr. Barker provided counsel to senior managers (including Ministers of the Crown) and field officers, as well as advising the organization with respect to daily operational issues and internal corporate matters. In addition, Mr. Barker was actively involved in a number of high-profile matters during the 1990s, including the off-shore project Hibernia, the recovery of the tank barge Irving Whale and the construction of the Confederation Bridge. As well as providing legal advice, Mr. Barker helped formulate policy and also taught at the Coast Guard College.
During the course of the mid-1990s, Mr. Barker actively participated in negotiations with the United States Coast Guard regarding trans-boundary issues that arose in the context of the contiguous waters between Canada and the United States of America and in particular regarding the interpretation of various International Conventions concerning those same waterways, such as the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1978, the Canada-USA Agreement on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1959.
With respect to the Canadian Coast Guard's theatre of operations in Canadian Arctic waters, Mr. Barker provided advice to fleet and pollution response operations in Canada's contiguous waters with Denmark (Greenland) and with the former USSR regarding international agreements with both countries relating to pollution issues in those contiguous waters.
In 1996, Mr. Barker was appointed counsel to an investigative three person panel appointed by the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans regarding pricing practices in the marine oil spill sector.
University Research
While at University College Cardiff in the mid-1980s, Mr. Barker researched International Law's contribution to the control and prevention of marine oil pollution, under the watchful eye of Professor E.D. Brown.
AWARDS:
1991
1996 |
Dalhousie University; Canadian Bar Association Maritime
Law Prize and the Edward C. Foley Memorial Scholarship
Canadian Coast Guard; Immediate Distinction Award and
Commissioner's Letter of Appreciation |
PUBLICATIONS:
Hazardous goods at sea. Are safe ships and clean seas mutually exclusive? A Canadian perspective. MARINE POLICY, July 1992, pp. 306 - 332.
Marine Liability Act of Canada - Short Comparison of Maritime Liability Regimes in Canada and the United States. Co-authored with A. Barry Oland. WAVELENGTH, September 2001, JSE Bulletin No. 43, pp. 33 - 42. PRESENTATIONS (WITH UNPUBLISHED ACCOMPANYING PAPERS):
September 2009 and November 2006 "The Canadian Oil Spill Response Regime, An Overview" - The Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia and Burrard Clean Operations/Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, Vancouver, British Columbia
May 2004 "Hull Clauses - Time for Change" - Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters Semi-Annual Meeting, Gravenhurst, Ontario
January 2004 "New Vessel Construction Standards" - Maritime Conference 2004, Toronto, Ontario
November 2003 "The 2003 International Hull Clauses; another attempt at modern and unambiguous language?" - Canadian Board of Marine Underwriters, Toronto, Ontario
October 2003 "Ship or undertaking? - A review of occupational health and safety and workers' compensation laws relating to the marine sector" - Toronto Marine Loss Group, Toronto, Ontario
September 2003 "Legal and Practical Considerations for the Medical Examination of Seafarers" - Transport Canada Marine Medical Examiner Seminar, Toronto, Ontario
January 2003 "Cayenne or Prius? Kyoto's impact on transportation" - Maritime Conference 2003, Toronto, Ontario
March 2002 "Recovery of the tank barge IRVING WHALE (1996), a case study" - Southern Alberta Risk and Insurance Management Society, Calgary, Alberta
March 2001 "The Law and Environmental Damage; Responding to ship-source oil pollution incidents" - a meeting of the Canadian Wildlife Service National Strike Team, Delta, British Columbia
March 2000 "Ship Registration and Tonnage Measurement" - Canadian Maritime Law Association, West Coast Open Meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia
APPEARANCES
March 1999 As a witness, at the request of Enviroment Canada, before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development regarding amendments to the
Canadian Environmental Protection Act.
April 2009 As a witness, on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association, before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities regarding Bill C-7, amendments to the
Marine Liability Act.
June 2009 As a witness, on behalf of the Canadian Bar Association, before the Senate Standing Committee on Transport and Communictaions regarding Bill C-7, amendments to the
Marine Liability Act.
POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY:
Current Canadian Bar Association, National Maritime Law Section, Chair 2008/10
Canadian Bar Association, Federal Court of Canada Bench & Bar Liaison Committee, Chair 2007/10
Canadian Forest History Society, Board Member 2002 - 2010
Canadian Maritime Law Association, Director 2009/10
Previous
REACH (an advocacy group for the disabled), Director 1995/96;
Children of Ireland Foundation, Chair and Director 1997 - 1999;
Meadow Montessori School Society, President 2001 - 2003;
Marine Insurance Association of B.C., Member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Legislation Committee 2002 - 2003
Chamber of Shipping of B.C., Member of the Legislation Committee 2001 - 2003
Canadian Maritime Law Association, Director 2002/03, 2006/07