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Staff of the Canadian Constitution Foundation

 

 
John Carpay, B.A., LL.B.
Executive Director
Fluent in English, French and Dutch, John Carpay earned his B.A. in Political Science from Laval University, Quebec City, and his LL.B. from the University of Calgary. He practiced law in Calgary before joining the Canadian Taxpayers Federation as Alberta Director in 2001. John served as co-counsel for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation when it intervened in Benoit v. Canada (Federal Court Trial Division, 2002; Federal Court of Appeal, 2003) to argue that race and ancestry should not be factors in taxation. In 2005, John became the Canadian Constitution Foundation’s first full-time Executive Director. In R. v. Kapp, he represented the intervener Japanese Canadian Fishermen’s Association before the Supreme Court of Canada. He is counsel for Chief Mountain and other Nisga’a plaintiffs who are challenging the Nisga’a Final Agreement legislation. John, his wife Barbra, and their three children reside in Calgary.

  

 
Karen Selick, LL.B.
Litigation Director
Karen Selick earned her LL.B. from the University of Toronto. Since her call to the Bar in 1978, she has practiced in the areas of tax planning, civil litigation, wills and estates, and matrimonial law. Karen is a prolific writer, whose legal and public policy commentary has been published in the Globe and Mail, National Post, Lawyers Weekly, Canadian Lawyer, Western Standard, and other publications.

  

   
Jeffrey Rustand, B.A., LL.B.
Counsel
Jeffrey Rustand was born in Burnaby, B.C. in 1956. He has a B.A. (Honours) from UBC with a major in political science. In 1985 he graduated from UBC law school. Jeffrey spent four years in Japan and was admitted to the B.C. Bar when he returned to Canada in 1991. From 1991 to 2000 Jeffrey practiced litigation in a private practice. Between 2001 and 2008, Jeffrey Rustand worked with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe as well as with the United Nations. He has worked in Albania, Poland, Central Asia and Kosovo, and also did pro bono work with NGOs regarding Cambodia and Burma. Jeffrey returned to Canada in 2008 to join the CCF as in-house counsel. He is currently focused on litigation files concerning aboriginal and treaty rights and is currently working on Chief Mountain's constitutional challenge to the Nisga'a Final Agreement.

 

   
Derek James From, B.R.S., B.A. (Hon), J.D.
Student-At-Law
After graduating with a Bachelor in Religious Studies from Briercrest College, Derek From completed a degree in philosophy at the University of Waterloo. Midway through grad school, Derek married his wife and took a post teaching music theory and recording arts. In lieu of returning to graduate studies in philosophy, Derek entered the University of Western Ontario’s law program and was awarded a Juris Doctor in the spring of 2009.
As a musician who has worked with many different record labels in the last ten years, Derek is interested in copyright law. Likewise, because of his background in political philosophy, Derek is also interested in constitutional law, administrative law, and philosophy of law.
In July of 2009, Derek relocated to Calgary and joined the Canadian Constitution Foundation as an articling student.

 

   
Adam Revay, B.A.
Director of Development and Communications
Adam Revay earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Calgary in 2006. He now serves the Canadian Constitution Foundation as Director of Development and Communications.
Since joining the CCF in 2008, Adam has been involved in redesigning the CCF website and in co-ordinating the Foundation’s involvement in social media like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Adam produced the CCF’s first in-house YouTube video titled, “U of C: University of Censorship.” He was also instrumental in planning and organizing the Foundation’s 2008 and 2009 annual law conferences, and is currently working on the 2010 law conference.
Adam enjoys the great outdoors and is an experienced skier. He is also a computer hobbyist and an avid gamer. His passions for public policy and gaming led him to create a blog where he advocates against government intervention in the gaming industry. Adam lives in Calgary with his partner Chloé.