Chris established his initial practice as an independent consultant in 1991. Clients include First Nations, municipal, provincial, territorial and national governments, academic institutions, non-profit, and private sector organizations. The practice focuses on project negotiation and mediation, the design of interest based, collaborative negotiation and dispute resolution processes, the development of public policy related to aboriginal issues, land claims and self-government and the training of negotiators and mediators.
Project highlights include a broad range of successful negotiations involving First Nations, government and the private sector including the first British Columbia interim measures and treaty framework agreements, major protected areas agreements, resource development impact management and benefits agreements and natural resource sector restructuring agreements.
Chris has designed an integrated community development strategy that has successfully been implemented in a number of BC communities. He has also facilitated and mediated process and relationship building initiatives between the private sector, First Nations, and government.
Prior to entering private practice, Chris was Chief Negotiator for the Government of Yukon during the latter stages of the Council for Yukon First Nations’ Comprehensive Land Claim Settlement. This constitutionally protected treaty included agreements on land, resources, rights, economic, social, financial and taxation issues. The Yukon process produced the first treaty to retain aboriginal title as the basis for settlement land tenure. This process also featured the negotiation of comprehensive self-government agreements recognizing First Nations’ legislative authority for their lands and resources and for social, health, education and justice issues for their people.
Chris is the former Chairman of the Board of The Network: Interaction for Conflict Resolution, at the time, Canada’s largest non-profit membership organization devoted to the promotion of collaborative dispute resolution.
He was the founding Chairman of the Board of the Ocean Renewable Energy Group (now Marine Renewables Canada) Canada’s national ocean energy sectoral association and served in that capacity for the first four years of the organizations existence. Chris is President of Canoe Pass Tidal Energy Corp and a Director of Pacific Tidal Energy Corp.