He was born and raised in Saskatchewan, and attended high school and undergraduate studies in Ottawa. He is a member of the Class of 1984 in the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria, and was called to the B.C. bar in 1985. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1991, and was a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada until 1999.
Ian is the author of three books: An Annotated Bibliography of Public Interest Advocacy (Justice Canada, 1980); Privacy and Free Enterprise: Legal Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (PIAC Ottawa, 1993); and Privacy and the Information Highway: Regulatory Options for Canada (Industry Canada, 1995). The Supreme Court of Canada quoted from Privacy and Free Enterprise in Privacy Commissioner of Canada v. Blood Tribe Department of Health, 2008 SCC 44. On two occasions, Ian has appeared as an expert witness on privacy issues before Parliamentary Committees in Ottawa.
Ian has lived in Smithers since 1995, and raised three daughters there: a lawyer, a teacher, and a filmmaker. He is the only lawyer in B.C. to practice in a turn-of-the-century CN Rail foreman’s quarters, which he renovated himself and which is heated by a wood stove.
In his spare time, Ian is a keyboard player, luthier, motorcyclist, sculptor, mentor to an intellectually-disabled young adult and President of the Bulkley Valley Agricultural and Industrial Association.
Ian Lawson, Barrister & Solicitor 