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Craig E. Jones, K.C.

Professor

BGS (TRU), LLB (UBC), LLM (Harvard)

Craig Jones was raised in the interior of British Columbia. He graduated from UBC’s law school in 1998 and was called to the Bar the following year. In 2002, he earned a Master’s degree from Harvard Law School.

Prior to joining the Faculty of Law in 2012, Professor Jones served as the Supervising Counsel of the Constitutional & Administrative Law Group in the BC Ministry of Attorney General. He appeared as lead counsel for the AG in a number of significant constitutional cases and public inquiries. Before that he worked at a large Vancouver firm where, in addition to his litigation work, he acted as counsel to the aboriginal rights pioneer Thomas Berger, OC QC during the 2005-06 Nunavut Land Claims Conciliation, and assisted in the preparation of Mr. Berger’s historic report The Nunavut Project. Since arriving at TRU in 2012, Professor Jones has retained a consultation and litigation practice at a boutique Vancouver litigation firm, where his clients have included individuals, First Nations, and government bodies. He has also represented TRU Law Students, without fee, in Law Society credentials hearings, and has been pro-bono counsel in several Human Rights Tribunal cases. In 2020 he was a member (along with his colleague Professor Katie Sykes) of the Attorney General's advisory committee on COVID-19 response.

Professor Jones’s books include Theory of Class Actions (shortlisted for the Walter Owen Book Prize), and The Law of Large-Scale Claims (co-authored with Jamie Cassels, K.C.). He has written dozens of articles in leading journals and has been a frequent guest lecturer at law schools and conferences across the country and in the US. Professor Jones’s current research and writing focuses on the constitutional development of interior First Nations in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and governance and international relations in the early fur trade period.

Professor Jones has served on the TRU Senate and boards of the BC Civil Liberties Association (including two terms as president), the PIVOT Legal Society, the TRU Faculty Association, and Habitat for Humanity Kamloops. He was recognized by TRU as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2008, and in 2011 he was appointed Queen’s Counsel in recognition of “exceptional merit and contribution to the practice of law." In 2021 he was honoured with an Award of Excellence by the TRU Students' Union in recognition of his advocacy on behalf of students, within the University and before other bodies.

Since 2022 Professor Jones has been retained as General Counsel to the Premier of British Columbia. He continues at the Faculty of TRU Law for the duration of that service, teaching Constitutional Law in the first-year curriculum.

 Publications

Books
  1. 2012 Craig Jones, A Cruel Arithmetic (Toronto: Irwin Law Book, 2012).
  2. 2005 Jamie Cassels & Craig Jones, The Law of Large Scale Claims: Products Liability, Toxic Torts and Complex Litigation in Canada (Toronto: Irwin Law Book, 2005).
  3. 2003 Craig Jones, Theory of Class Actions [with foreword by David Rosenberg] (Toronto: Irwin Law Book, 2003).
Articles and Book Chapters
  1. 2014 Craig Jones, "Introduction" in Janet Walker et al., Class Actions in Canada: Cases, Notes and Materials (Toronto: Emond Montgomery)
  2. 2013 Craig Jones, "Criminal Law" (Chapter 3) in N. Boyd, ed., Understanding Criminology in Canada (Emond Montgomery Publications, 2015)
  3. 2013 Craig Jones and Micah Rankin, "Justice as a Rounding Error: Judicial Bias in Second Degree Murder Sentencing" (2014) 52:1 Osgoode Hall L.J.
  4. 2013 Craig Jones, “The Troubling New Science of Legal Persuasion: Heuristics and Biases in Judicial Decision Making” (2013) 41 Adv. Q. 48.
  5. 2013 Craig Jones, “The Attorney General, the Courts, and the New Ministry of Justice” (2013), 71(2) The Advocate 189.
  6. 2013 Craig Jones, “Litigate or Regulate?  The Elusiveness of an Effective Consumer Protection Regime” (2013), 53 Can. Bus. L.J., 202.
  7. 2012 Craig Jones, “Standing on Our Rights: Why ‘who can sue’ has become the most important question of all” in BCCLA 50th Anniversary Celebration of Civil Liberties in Canada and Around the World (2012, BC Civil Liberties Association)
  8. 2011 Craig Jones, “Reasoning Through Probabilistic Causation in Individual and Aggregate Claims: The Struggle Continues” (2011) 39 Adv. Q. 18.
  9. 2007 Craig Jones, “The Attorney General’s Standing to Seek Relief in the Public Interest: The Evolving Doctrine of Parens Patriae” (2007) 86 Can. Bar. Rev. 121.
  10. 2007 Angela Baxter and Craig Jones, “The Class Action and Public Authority Liability: ‘Preferability Re-Examined” (2007) 57 U.N.B.L.J. 27.
  11. 2007 Craig Jones, “New Solitudes: Recent Decisions Call into Question the “National Class” (2007) 45 Can. Bus. L.J. 47.
  12. 2006 Craig Jones, “Litigating Conspiracy” (Book Review) (2006) 44 Can. Bus. L.J. 1.
  13. 2006 Angela Baxter and Craig Jones, “Fumbling Toward Efficacy: National Classes after Currie v. McDonald’s” (2006) 3 Can. Class Action R. 86.
  14. 2005 Craig Jones, “The Class Action in Common Law Legal Systems: A Comparative Perspective” (Book Review), (2005) 2 Can. Class Action R. 216.
  15. 2004 Craig Jones, “The Case for the National Class”, (2004) 1 Can. Class Action R. 29.
  16. 2004 Jamie Cassels and Craig Jones, “Rethinking Ends and Means in Mass Tort: Probabilistic Causation and Risk-Based Mass Tort Claims after Fairchild v. Glenhaven Funeral Services” (2003) 82 Can. Bar. Rev. 597.
  17. 2003 Craig Jones, “Immunizing Universities from Charter Review: Are we ‘Contracting Out’ Censorship?” (2003) 52 U.N.B.L.J. 261.
  18. 2002 Craig Jones, “Fixing to Sue: Does the Government Have a Legal Duty to Establish Safe Injection Facilities in British Columbia?” (2002) 35 U.B.C. L. Rev. 391.
  19. 2002 Craig Jones and John Kleefeld, “ Whiten v. Pilot: Safe Harbour for Punitive Damages in Contract?” (Case Comment) (2002) 60 The Advocate 507.
  20. 2001 Craig Jones, “The Struggle for Civil Liberties: Political Freedom and the Rule of Law in Britain, 1914-1915” (Book Review) (2001) 39 Alta. L. Rev. 605.
  21. 2000 Craig Jones, “The Partial Commencement of Acts: A Constitutional Criticism of the Lieutenant Governor-in-Councils’ ‘Line-Item Veto’ Power”, (2000) V Rev. Const. Studies 172.
  22. 2000 Elliott M. Myers and Craig Jones, “Coping with the “National Class”: Corporate Response to Canadian ‘Multi-Jurisdictional’ Class Actions,” North American Corporate Lawyer, Spring 1999.
  23. 1999 Steven Wexler and Craig Jones, “The Charter’s Burdens: The Return to the Presumption of Validity in Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms”, (1999) 10 Constitutional Forum 31.
  24. 1998 Craig Jones, “The Spoliation Doctrine and Expert Evidence in Civil Trials” (1998) 32 U.B.C. L. Rev. 293.
 Research
Counsel Work: Special Projects and Inquiries
  1. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry (2011): Counsel for Attorney General and Province before the Oppal Commission.
  2. Thomas R. Braidwood Hearing and Study Commission Inquiry into the Death of Robert Dziekanski (2009-10): Lead counsel for Attorney General before Commission in constitutional challenge brought by Attorney General of Canada and others to authority of Commission.
  3. Nunavut Land Claims Negotiations (2005-06): Counsel to the federally-appointed Conciliator, Thomas R. Berger O.C., Q.C. in stalled negotiations between the governments of Canada and Nunavut, and the Nunavut Inuit.
  4. Vancouver Electoral Reform Commission (2004-05): Counsel to Commission during hearings and subsequent report on municipal electoral system reform in the City of Vancouver.
Counsel Work: Trial and Appellate Work
  1. Reference re: Constitutionality of Section 293 of Criminal Code (Polygamy) 2009 BCSC 1668; 2010 BCSC 517; 2010 BCSC 1308, 2011 BCSC 1588: Lead counsel for Attorney General in constitutional reference.
  2. In the Matter of Interference with Access to or Operation of the Courts of Justice (2011 BCSC __): Lead counsel for Attorney General in parens patriae injunction application.
  3. Vancouver Network of Drug Users v. Canada / Portland Hotel Society v. Canada 2008 BCCA 441; 2010 BCCA 15; 2011 SCC 44: Lead counsel for Attorney General in constitutional challenge to closure of the Insite safe injection facility.
  4. Blackmore v. British Columbia 2009 BCSC 1299: Lead counsel for Attorney General in Judicial review of prosecutorial decision in Bountiful case.
  5. Taser International v. Braidwood et al. 2010 BCSC 623; 2010 BCSC 1120: Lead counsel for Attorney General in judicial review seeking to quash the findings of Braidwood Study Commission into Taser use in British Columbia.
  6. Rundel et al v. Braidwood 2009 BCSC 814; 2009 BCCA 604: Lead counsel for Attorney General in constitutional challenge by RCMP officers to jurisdiction of provincial inquiry.
  7. BC Teachers’ Federation v. British Columbia (A.G.) 2008 BCSC 1599, 2008 BCSC 1626, 2008 BCSC 1699, 2008 BCSC 1769, 2009 BCSC 436, 2009 BCSC 440, 2009 BCCA 156: Lead Counsel for Attorney General in constitutional challenge to third-party election advertising limits.
  8. Arkinstall et al v. City of Surrey et al, 2007 BCSC 1116; 2008 BCSC 1419; 2009 BCSC 240; 2010 BCCA 250: Lead counsel for Attorney General in challenge to ‘grow op’ searches conducted under the Safety Standards Act.
  9. MacKinnon v. National Money Mart Company, 2007 BCSC 348; 2009 BCCA 103: Lead counsel for Attorney General in Charter challenge to s. 347 of the Criminal Code.
  10. V.M. v. British Columbia (Director of Child, Family and Community Service), 2007 BCSC 552, 2007 BCCA 338, 2008 BCSC 449: Counsel (with G.H. Copley, Q.C.) for Attorney General in constitutional challenge to Director’s seizure of Jehovah’s Witness sextuplets for blood transfusions.
  11. British Columbia Nurses’ Union v. Medical Services Commission 2008 BCSC 321: Lead counsel for Medical Services Commission in challenge based on extra billing in private medical clinics.
  12. Canada v. JTI-Macdonald Corp., 2007 SCC 30: Lead Counsel for Attorney General (intervenor) in constitutional challenge to federal tobacco advertising restrictions.
  13. Crown Point Hotel (1981) Ltd. v. British Columbia (Public Safety and Solicitor General) 2007 BCSC 1048: Counsel for Province in challenge to Fire Inspector’s authority to close a residential hotel.
  14. Canadian Federation of Students v. Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority, 2006 BCCA 529: Counsel (with Neena Sharma) for Attorney General in Charter challenge to advertising restrictions on buses.
  15. Her Majesty the Queen v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited et al. 2005 SCC 49, affirming 2004 BCCA 953, reversing 2003 BCSC 877: Counsel (with T.R. Berger, Q.C., D.A. Webster, Q.C., and E.M. Myers, Q.C.) for Her Majesty in constitutional challenges by industry to the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act.
  16. District of Kitimat v. Alcan Inc. 2005 BCSC 44: Counsel (with D. Bennett) for Alcan Inc. in declaratory action by municipality alleging unlawful power sales.
  17. Comox-Strathcona Regional District v. Hansen 2005 BCSC 220: Counsel (with D.A. Webster, Q.C.) municipality in division of powers case regarding federal jurisdiction over civil aeronautics.
  18. Powerex Corp. v. Alcan Inc. 2003 BCSC 1096 (granting discretionary adjournment pending US appeal); 2004 BCSC 876 (granting statutory adjournment pending 2nd US appeal); 2004 BCCA 504 (leave to appeal Voth order granted). Counsel (with Simon Margolis) for Alcan in attempted enforcement of $100M international commercial arbitration award. Matter settled while under appeal.
  19. Alcan Inc. v. Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy 2004 BCSC 74: Counsel for Alcan Inc. (with D.A. Webster, Q.C.) in challenge based on solicitor’s conflict of interest.
  20. Nixon v. Vancouver Rape Relief Society 2004 BCCA 516 (motion for intervention): (B.C. Court of Appeal): Counsel (with G.A. Allison) for Society resisting interventions by activist groups in action by transsexual woman denied a position as rape crisis counsellor.
  21. Reference re: Same Sex Marriage 2004 SCC 79: Counsel (pro bono with E.M. Myers, Q.C.) for B.C. Civil Liberties Association in constitutional reference (drafted materials but did not appear).
  22. Kempling v. B.C. College of Teachers 2003 BCSC 133: Counsel (pro bono with E.M. Myers, Q.C.) for B.C. Civil Liberties Association (Intervenor) in Charter challenge to College’s discipline of teacher for anti-gay writings.
  23. Gray et al v. Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia et al, 2003 BCSC 864: Counsel for members of student club in tort and contract action against students’ union and individuals.
 Conferences
CLE Presentations, Conference Papers, Symposia
  1. 2012 Panel Member, “Charter Principles Protecting Liberty”, in The Law Protecting Liberty: What You Need to Know, BCCLA 50th Anniversary CLE, Vancouver, B.C. June 2, 2012.
  2. 2012 Conference Co-Chair (with Murray Rankin, Q.C.): Advanced Administrative Law: Legal Update and Special Duties Pacific Business & Law Institute, Vancouver B.C. (April 25, 2012).
  3. 2012 Presentation: “Vulnerable Populations: Current Charter Challenges”, NJI Charter Conference, National Judicial Institute / Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta (January 25, 2012).
  4. 2011 Panel Member, “Where We Are and How We Got Here”, in Invitational Class Action Forum, Northwind CLE, Cambridge, Ont, (June 21, 2011).
  5. 2011 Panel Member: “Cameras in the Courtroom”, in Lawyers in the Media, CLEBC, Vancouver B.C. (June 6, 2011).
  6. 2011 Panel Member/Presenter: “Reasoning Through Causation in Probabilistic Claims”, in Causation in Tort II CLEBC, Vancouver B.C. (June 1-2, 2011).
  7. 2011 Presentation: “Class Actions Against Government”, in NJI Class Actions Conference, National Judicial Institute, Toronto. (July 27, 2011).
  8. 2011 Presentation: “Behaviour Modification vs. Access to Justice”, in Windsor Law Class Actions Conference, Windsor Ont. (March 29, 2011).
  9. 2011 Conference Co-Chair (with Frank Falzon): Advanced Administrative Law: Legal Update and Special Duties Pacific Business & Law Institute, Vancouver B.C. (March 11, 2011).
  10. 2010 Panel Discussion, “National Classes Conundrum: The Search for a Solution”, moderated by Peter W. Hogg, Q.C. in 7th Annual Osgoode Hall Class Action Symposium, Toronto (April 30, 2010).
  11. 2010 Conference Co-Chair (with Joseph Arvay), Suing and Defending the Government, CLEBC, Vancouver B.C. (April 8, 2010).
  12. 2010 Panel Discussion, “National Classes Conundrum: The Search for a Solution”, moderated by Peter W. Hogg, Q.C., 7th Annual Osgoode Hall Class Action Symposium, Toronto (April 30, 2010).
  13. 2009 Panel Discussion, "Racial equality, aboriginal rights, and Section 15: examining the impact of R. v. Kapp", Canadian Constitution Foundation, Toronto (October 2-4, 2009).
  14. 2009 Panel Discussion, “Ocean Port and the Constitutional Independence of Tribunals”, Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals Annual Conference, Halifax, N.S. (June 1, 2009).
  15. 2009 Conference Co-Chair (with Murray Rankin), Administrative Law: Key Concepts and Thorny Issues, Pacific Business & Law Institute, Vancouver B.C. (February 5, 2009).
  16. 2008 Craig Jones, “Riffing on Mass Torts, Risk & Uncertainty: Resurfice Corp. v. Hanke and Proof of Causation in Populations”, Causation in Tort After Resurfice CLEBC, Vancouver B.C. (June 26, 2008).
  17. 2007 Craig Jones, “Developments in Standing and Res Judicata in Collective Actions: The Report from Canada to the World Congress of Procedural Law” (2007), International Association on Procedural Law (Brazil, 2007).
  18. 2007 Craig Jones, “Damages Under s. 24(1): The Uncertain Civil Remedies under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms” Torts 2007 CLEBC, Vancouver B.C. (May 21, 2007).
  19. 2007 Craig Jones, “Disorderly and Unfair: The Weird Present and Uncertain Future of ‘Full Faith and Credit’ in Interjurisdictional Class Actions” in 4th Annual Osgoode Hall Class Action Symposium, Toronto (April 26&27, 2007).
  20. 2006 Craig Jones, “The Class Action and Public Authority Liability: Principle and Practice” in Public Wrongs and Private Duties, University of New Brunswick Law School Conference, Fredericton (May 18&19, 2006).
  21. 2006 Craig Jones, “National Classes after Currie v. McDonald’s” in Class Actions Without Borders, Osgoode Hall Class Action Symposium, Toronto (April 6&7, 2006).
  22. 2006 Craig Jones, “Emerging Areas of Governmental Liability” in Suing and Defending the Government, CLEBC, Vancouver B.C. (January 27, 2006).
  23. 2005 Craig Jones, “Libel as Internet Tort” in Contracts and Torts Panel Discussion, UBC Faculty of Law’s Diamond Jubilee, September 2005.
  24. 2005 Craig Jones, “The Class Action as Public Law” CLE Seminar for the Nunavut Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, Iqaluit September 2005.
  25. 2005 Craig Jones, “Causation in Mass Tort Cases” CLE Seminar for the National Civil Litigation and Insurance Sections of the CBA, Toronto, ON April 2005.
  26. 2004 Elliott M. Myers Q.C. and Craig Jones, “Class Actions” in 5th Annual Civil Litigation Conference (Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, October 21, 2004).
  27. 2004 Craig Jones, “Interjurisdictional Class Actions” in Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference, Winnipeg, MB (August 2004).
  28. 2004 Craig Jones, “Trends in Tort Causation” in Annual Torts Update CLEBC (April 23, 2004).
  29. 2001 Craig Jones: “Civil Liability and Safe Injection Sites” Safe Injection Facilities: Opening the Legal Doors (Symposium at Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre Campus), June 18, 2001.
  30. 2000 Craig Jones: “Censorship from Socrates to Sharpe”: Symposium on Pornography and the Law, Institute for Practical Philosophy (Malaspina University College), March 18, 2000.
  31. 1996 Craig Jones, “Criminalizing AIDS Transmission in Canada”; 10th Annual B.C. Conference on HIV/AIDS October 27, 1997.
 Curriculum Vitae

Download my Curriculum Vitae

 Links
Craig Jones
Contact

Office:
OM 4649
Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
250-852-7695

Courses
  • Constitutional Law
    (LAWF 3010)