Murray Rankin, KC Counsel

Telephone: 778.557.2398 E-mail: mrankin@arvayfinlay.ca Pronouns: he/him/his Administrative Support: Tiffany Webb (250.380.2788)

Murray Rankin, K.C. brings exceptional depth in environmental, indigenous, and information law, combined with distinguished public service experience. As a former Member of Parliament (Victoria, 2012-2019) and as British Columbia's Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation (2020-2024), he has demonstrated unique expertise in complex negotiations and public policy development at both the federal and provincial levels. He was appointed by the Prime Minister as the first Chair of Canada’s National Security and Intelligence Review Agency.

Murray was a founding partner of Arvay Finlay, specializing in environmental and administrative law. He was also a partner in a national law firm between 2006 and 2011, before seeking elected office in the federal election the following year.  He has appeared at all levels of court.

Before co-founding Arvay Finlay, Murray was a Professor of Law at the University of Victoria, where he primarily taught administrative law and environmental law.  He remains a regional editor of the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice. He also served as Chief Treaty Negotiator in 1994, representing British Columbia in treaty negotiations across Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.   

Murray holds law degrees from the University of Toronto and Harvard Law School. His graduate work on freedom of information at Harvard led him to advocate for such legislation at the federal and provincial levels.  He served as special advisor to the BC Attorney General, which led to the unanimous passage of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

He has contributed to legislative reform at both the federal and provincial levels. While serving as Health critic for the Official Opposition, he was instrumental in achieving a unanimous parliamentary vote that resulted in the victims of thalidomide poisoning receiving lifetime annual benefits.  Following the decision of the Court in Carter v. Canada, Murray was elected Vice-Chair of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying,  As Justice critic, he helped produce amendments to the Criminal Code that permitted medical assistance in dying under specified conditions.  He was also appointed to the first National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and received the highest security clearance for this work.

Murray was elected to the British Columbia Legislature in 2020 and appointed Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.  He led the cross-government implementation of BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, the first statute of its kind to be enacted in North America. He led the government in advancing various reconciliation agreements with multiple First Nations and oversaw significant progress in modern treaty negotiations and Treaty Land Entitlements in the Treaty 8 territory of Northeast British Columbia.  In 2023, he shepherded passage of the Haida Nation Recognition Act, recognizing aboriginal title to land on Haida Gwaii.  It established a historic consent-based decision-making process with the Haida Nation and formalized shared management of natural resources on Haida Gwaii. He also led efforts to create shared decision-making agreements with First Nation governments across British Columbia and worked to establish new revenue-sharing models for gaming, forestry, and mining as well as for Indigenous-led conservation initiatives.