Areas of Expertise

• Administrative and
  constitutional law
• Human rights
• Information and privacy
• Self-governing professions

BAR MEMBERSHIP

• British Columbia, 1989

EDUCATION

• LL.B., University of Victoria

Angela Westmacott

Angela Westmacott began her legal career with the Ministry of Attorney General where she practiced in both the Civil Litigation section and the Constitutional and Administrative Law section of Legal Services Branch. In 1997, Angela and Deborah K. Lovett, Q.C. left the provincial government to establish Lovett Westmacott.

Angela practices in the areas of administrative, constitutional and human rights law. She advises and represents a broad range of public sector clients providing both regulatory advice and representation in litigation. She has more than 20 years experience appearing before, and advising, administrative tribunals, and appearing at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. She has extensive judicial review and appellate litigation experience.

Angela was involved in the BC Attorney General's Administrative Justice Project and co-authored (with Deborah) the Human Rights Review - A Background Paper, (Administrative Justice Project, Ministry of Attorney General) and a legal advisor and investigator for the Information and Privacy Commissioner's 2007 report concerning the Lobbyist Registration Act. She is a frequent speaker at administrative law and human rights conferences and has conducted extensive training on administrative law issues for governments and administrative tribunals. In 2011, Angela co-facilitated a conference on Professional Regulation for self-governing professions and presented a CLE paper on Self-Governing Professions: Human Rights and the Registration Process.

Angela's past appointments include Vice-Chair of the Safety Standards Appeal Board, Member of the Law Society of British Columbia Unauthorized Practice Committee, and Member Designate of the B.C. Human Rights Council. She is currently a member of the Law Society of British Columbia Credentials Committee.

Angela also works as a neutral, providing investigation services primarily in the area of workplace disputes and discrimination and harassment complaints.

SELECTED REPORTS + PUBLICATIONS

• "Criminal Code Court-Ordered Psychiatric and Psychological Assessments and the Role of the Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission", 2011 Advocate 663
• "Judicial Review of Less Formal Administrative Tribunals", Continuing Legal Education (Administrative Law Conference) (October 2009)
• "Human Rights Considerations in the Admissions Process for Self-Governing Professions", Continuing Legal Education - Self-Governing Professions (April 2011)
• "Practice Aspects of Procedural Fairness: Special Duties in Dealing with Self-Represented Litigants", Pacific Business & Law Institute (March 2011)

SELECTED DECISIONS

Administrative and constitutional law:

• Ramsden v. City of Peterborough, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 1084
• Omineca Enterprises Ltd. v. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), (1993), 85 B.C.L.R. (2d) 85 (C.A.), leave to appeal to SCC dismissed 91 B.C.L.R. (2d) xxxvi
• Blackman v. British Columbia Review Board and Attorney General of British Columbia, [1995] B.C.J. No. 95 (C.A.)
• Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. The Minister of Justice and Canada (Attorney General) and Minister of National Revenue, [1996] B.C.J. No. 71 (S.C.)
• Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Canada v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1997] B.C.J. No. 1902 (C.A.)
• Farmfok/Cityfolk Society of B.C. v. British Columbia (Agricultural Land Commission Act, Commissioner), [1998] B.C.J. No. 1351 (S.C.)
• Arbic v. British Columbia (Ministry of Housing and Social Development and Employment and Assistance Appeal Tribunal, 2011 BCSC 410

Human rights:

• Insurance Corporation of British Columbia v. Yuan, 2009 BCCA 279
• Berscheid v. Westbank Indian Band and Attorney General of British Columbia, [1999] B.C.J. No. 505 (S.C.)
• Collins v. Abrams, British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and Attorney General of British Columbia, [1999] B.C.J. No. 2859 (S.C.)

Health and Forensic Mental Health:

• Mazzei v. Adult Forensic Psychiatric Services and B.C. (Attorney General), 2006 SCC 7
• Winko v. Forensic Psychiatric Institute, B.C (Attorney General), [1996] B.C.J. No. 2262 (C.A.)
• Blackman v. British Columbia Review Board, [1995] B.C.J. No. 95 (C.A.)

Information and Privacy:

• British Columbia (Attorney General) v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2011 BCSC 112
• Simon Fraser University v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), [2009] B.C.J. No. 2145 (S.C.)
• Sochowski v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2008 BCSC 1390
• Canadian Pacific Railway v. British Columbia (Information and Privacy Commissioner), [2002] B.C.J. No. 848

Environmental:

• Cattermole Timber v. Ministry of Forests, [1995] B.C.J. No. 306 (C.A.)
• Western Canada Wilderness Committee v. British Columbia (Chief Forester), [1998] B.C.J. No. 808 (C.A.)
• British Columbia (Minister of Forests) v. MacMillan Bloedel, [1992] B.C.J. No. 2760 (S.C.)
• Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Council v. British Columbia (Chief Forester), [1996] B.C.J. No. 3184 (S.C.)

Land Title and Financial Services Regulation:

• Bryan's Transfer Ltd. v. Trail (City), [2010] B.C.J. No. 531 (C.A.)
• Buchanan v. Financial Services Tribunal, [2007] B.C.J. No. 2630 (S.C.)
• Registrar of Mortgage Brokers v. Financial Services Tribunal, 2007 BCSC 1118