The Law Foundation of BC is happy to announce that Josh Paterson, currently executive director of the BC Civil Liberties Association (“BCCLA”), will start as the new executive director of the Law Foundation on September 3, 2019.

Josh has led the BCCLA since January 2013. During Josh’s time as executive director, the BCCLA’s legal challenges and law reform work have created substantial change in Canadian law – from winning the right to medical assistance in dying to the victory overturning solitary confinement in Canada’s prisons. The BCCLA also modernized its governance structure, developed its first strategic plan, and significantly increased its financial capacity during Josh’s tenure.

Josh’s legal practice has included constitutional law, First Nations law, labour and human rights law, and environmental law, working at a number of different legal organizations and a litigation firm.
He has served on a number of government advisory bodies, including BC’s Advisory Committee on Provincial Policing Standards, the BC Police Academy Curriculum Evaluation Steering Committee, and the National Energy Board’s Land Matters Group.

Josh has taught as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia for six years. He holds law and master’s degrees from the University of Toronto, and clerked at Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice.