Professor Stewart Elgie specializes in environmental and natural resources law and policy, and serves as associate director of the University of Ottawa’s Institute of the Environment.
Between 1992 and 2001, he founded and led as managing lawyer the Sierra Legal Defence Fund—now Canada’s premier public interest environmental law organization. In this capacity, he counseled more than 100 environmental, community, and First Nations organizations nationwide, and acted as counsel in landmark public interest environmental litigation, including four victorious arguments before the Supreme Court of Canada on pivotal environmental-constitutional matters. Earlier, he practiced as an environmental attorney in Alaska, where he litigated against Exxon in the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. From 2001 to 2003, Elgie established and directed the Canadian Boreal Trust, a foundation dedicated to conserving Canada’s northern forest ecosystems. In 2007, he launched Sustainable Prosperity, a collaborative research and policy effort uniting leaders from business, environmental, academic, and governmental sectors to advance a sustainable Canadian economy via fiscal and policy transformations.
Elgie has advised government panels on diverse topics, such as the NAFTA environmental side agreement, endangered species laws, parks legislation, environmental assessments, and trade-environment linkages. He regularly testifies before parliamentary committees on environmental issues and orchestrated a victorious advocacy drive for Canada’s federal endangered species legislation, enacted in 2002.
He has taught previously at Osgoode Hall Law School (part-time, 1997–2002), the University of British Columbia (part-time, 1993–1996), and the University of Alberta (full-time, 1990–1992). Elgie has authored many articles in scholarly and general publications covering various aspects of environmental policy and law.
In 2001, he received the Law Society of Upper Canada Medal for outstanding legal contributions—one of the youngest recipients of the profession’s top accolade. In 2003, the federal Minister of the Environment honored him with an Achievement Award for his instrumental role in crafting Canada’s endangered species legislation.
