Edward D. Bates, QC Award in Public Law

Award descriptionA $1,700 award has been made available through an endowment established by family, friends and colleagues in the legal community and at Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman in honour of Edward D. Bates, QC, to a student entering the second or third year of the JD program in good academic standing. Preference will be given to a student who demonstrates an interest in administrative law practice, including the work of administrative tribunals, boards and commissions. During his long and successful career at WorkSafeBC from 1974 until retirement in 2015, Mr. Bates served as General Counsel and Secretary to the Board. While representing the board in seminal cases in workers' compensation law, he assisted in recovering substantial amounts of compensation on behalf of workers suffering from asbestos-related diseases. He was at the forefront of changing smoking laws in British Columbia to protect workers from secondhand smoke and was responsible for implementing the Criminal Injury Compensation Act of British Columbia to provide compensation to victims of crime. In 2004, Mr. Bates received the John Tait Award of Excellence for exemplary public legal service in Canada. This award is made on the recommendation of the Peter A. Allard School of Law.