Jim Matkin

Jim Matkin
Born	James G. Matkin 1942 Alberta, Canada
Occupation	former: Law professor, Deputy Minister, President & CEO of Business Council of BC, former Executive Director of Law Society of BC
Spouse(s)	Cheri
Children	Three daughters

James G. (Jim) Matkin, Q.C. is a former British Columbia, Canada deputy minister of labour and of intergovernmental relations, former President and CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia, and a former British Columbia Law Society secretary and executive director. He was part of the team which drafted the British Columbia Labour Relations Board legislation in 1973, and he drafted the first human rights code of BC, floated the Non Obstante clause compromise that was adopted in the Canadian Constitution, and is credited with "cleaning up" the Vancouver stock exchange through his one-man commission of enquiry.

Originally from Alberta, He obtained his bachelor's and master's (law) degrees from University of Alberta and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School and became a law clerk to a Supreme Court of Canada Justice and an assistant professor of law at the University of British Columbia.

While a University of British Columbia law faculty member, he was invited to be part of a government-appointed Committee of Special Advisors assembled to draft legislation which became the Labour Code of British Columbia Act of 1973.

At age 30, he became deputy minister of labor in British Columbia. He was then the youngest deputy minister in the history of BC. From 1981 he was Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Relations. He left the bureaucracy July 1, 1983 with the congratulations of Honorable Garde Gardom: " Mr. Matkin has performed long and in a most dedicated fashion, under two different administrations, always in the interests of the general public of our province. He's been a dedicated public servant."

Matkin's associate, Paul C. Weiler, a former BC Labour Relations Board head, had written a McGill Law Journal paper that recommended a Non Obstante Clause be inserted in the Canadian constitution. This would allow a Canadian province to "opt out" of portions of the new constitution. Matkin's staff altered a "no author text" to include this concept. The "no author text" (or a document with no author named) was circulated at a constitutional conference attended by Canadian first ministers and their staff. This clause bears close resemblance to the Notwithstanding clause that ultimately became an ingredient in the Kitchen Accord among most Canadian provinces and the federal government of Canada.

...
Wikipedia