Tom Gunton
Professor
Resource and Environmental Planning
B.A.(University of Waterloo)
M.A. (Urban and Regional Planning, University of Waterloo)
Ph.D. (Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia)
Dr. Gunton is a registered professional planner specializing in resource and environmental policy. He has had extensive professional experience including holding the positions of Deputy Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Policy Secretariat and Deputy Minister of Finance/Treasury Board for the Government of British Columbia. He has also held senior positions with the Government of Manitoba, including Assistant Deputy Minister of Energy and Mines. Dr. Gunton regularly provides advice to private sector and public sector clients. His work includes evaluation of resource projects, regional and community sustainable development strategies and negotiation and collaborative planning techniques for resolving resource and environmental conflicts. While working for the B.C. provincial government he managed the development and implementation of a number of major environmental initiatives including a new Environmental Assessment Act, a new Forest Practices Code, a forest sector strategy, a new regional land use planning process, a major expansion of the provincial parks system, a redesign of the regulatory system for oil and gas development and new air pollution regulations. He was also the chief negotiator for the province on a number of issues. Dr. Gunton co-chaired a national committee of the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers developing a national air quality plan and was a member of the Canada/U.S. Environmental Cooperation Council and the Fraser Basin River Council.
Dr. Gunton’s work has included management of problems in a number of resource sectors including forestry, land use, energy, mining and fisheries. His recent academic work has been in the area of the role of natural resources in regional development, shared decision-making techniques and dispute resolution processes in land use and environmental management, and evaluation of environmental sustainability planning. He recently completed a major research project funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council evaluating the innovative collaborative planning system used for land use planning in British Columbia. He is Chair of the Sustainable Planning Research Group and Chair of the Offshore Oil and Gas Research Group, which is providing advice to First Nations on impacts of oil and gas development. Dr. Gunton also recently completed a major project on sustainability reporting for the David Suzuki Foundation and prepared the national Sustainable Development Act for the Suzuki Foundation that was passed by the Parliament of Canada in 2008. More information on Dr. Gunton’s research and publications can be found at http://www.rem.sfu.ca/sustainableplanning.
Dr. Gunton teaches Advance Planning Workshop (REM 602), Regional Planning I (REM 642), Environmental Conflict and Dispute Resolution (REM 643), and Public Policy Analysis and Administration (REM 644).