ABOUT STUART RENNIE
Lawyer - Librarian - Records and Information Management Consultant
Stuart Rennie has been in practice as a lawyer for over 30 years and has worked as a records management and information consultant since 1995, providing related services for over 24 years. He holds a law degree, a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of British Columbia, he is a librarian with a Masters of Library and Information Studies (M.L.I.S.), from UBC and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (Honours) majoring in Young Offenders, from the University of Calgary. In 2019, Stuart was inducted into the ARMA International Company of Fellows (FAI).
Stuart grew up in Kamloops and graduated from Kamloops Senior Secondary.
Stuart began his legal career practicing traditional law, focusing mainly on plaintiff’s personal injury and refugee law.
Through his professional career he has developed a legal practice that provides boutique specialty services in:
- Privacy Law;
- Records Management;
- Information Governance;
- Continued Professional Development Webinars for BC lawyers; and
- Public policy law reform, focusing on the development of Legislation in the province of British Columbia.
For the past 21 years, Stuart has been the Legislation and Law Reform Officer at the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch (CBABC). He provides consulting advice on proposed BC legislation, advises lawyers on BC statutes and regulations and provides policy and information governance advice. Since 2010, he also has created and moderated over 100 webinars for the CBABC in its Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program for CBABC lawyers. Stuart also provides CPD for the BC Provincial Court.
As an Information Governance consultant, Stuart regularly drafts Records Management plans for municipalities, non-profits, First Nations Governments and industry regulators. Stuart conducts legal research and analysis to create records retention schedules and classification plans necessary to ensure an organization’s records comply with the law, best practices and standards for records management.
Stuart also creates bylaws, policies and procedures for corporate governance. He conducts records, privacy and liability audits. He provides training in records management for staff and management. He makes recommendations on privacy law and the legal admissibility of electronic records in court and tribunals.
DEVELOPMENT OF BEST PRACTICES AND STANDARDS
Stuart is active in the development of industry best practices and standards in the Information Governance sector, including:
ARMA International
Stuart has served on many ARMA International boards and committees, including:
- Information Governance Advisory Committee (IGAC) (2019 to present);
- Content Editorial Board Member, which updated the Records and Information Management Core Competencies and Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles®;
- Strategic Task Force Member (2010 to 2013);
- Content Editorial Board Member (2013 to present) advised on content for ARMA publications including the Information Management Journal;
- Stuart co-founded and is an Editorial Board Member of Sagesse, the Journal of Canadian Records and Information Management; and
- Fellow of ARMA International (FAI).
University of British Columbia (UBC)
InterPARES and InterPARES Trust researcher regarding the long-term preservation of authentic electronic records;
Addressing Electronic Discovery in Civil Litigation (First Edition 2008 and Second Edition 2015); and
Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB)
Member of the Canadian General Standards Board's Committee (2016) on Electronic Records and Image Management for the modernization and replacement of the National Standard of Canada, the Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence (CAN/CGSB-72.34-2005).
LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS
As an adjunct professor, Stuart has instructed courses at the University of British Columbia School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS). At SLAIS, he created and has taught the following graduate courses: Issues In Information Services: Competitive Intelligence (LIBR 548B); and Archives, Records and the Law (ARST 580).
He also guest-lectures for other UBC SLAIS courses, Vancouver Community College courses.
Presentations and Workshops
Stuart is a frequent invited speaker at workshops and conferences across Canada and has presented over 30 workshops at ARMA Canada events and conferences. Some recent examples are:
- "Governance & Business Profiling - A Mindmap around Profile and Policy" - co-presenter, First Nations Public Service Secretariat Fall Conference, 2019;
- "An Introduction to the First Nations Public Service Secretariat Information Management Toolkit", at the Management Training Academy workshop, Williams Lake, 2019;
- Participant, First Nations Public Service Secretariat Information Management Toolkit, Train-the-Trainer workshop, 2019;
- “Structured Shared Drives for RIM Compliance”, ARMA Canada National Conference in Montreal, QC, 2019;
- “Legal Jurisdiction: What Law Applies to My Records?”, ARMA Canada National Conference in Montreal, QC, 2019;
- “Test your CAN/CGSB 72.34-2017 Knowledge!”, 2018.
- “Structured Shared Drives”, First Nations Public Service Secretariat Fall Conference, 2018;
- Workshop Presenter with Uta Fox: “The Alberta Provincial Court R. V. Oler: The Legal Implications For Using Standards In Scanning”, ARMA Vancouver Chapter (Vancouver, BC), 2017; and
- “How to be Court Qualified RIM Expert: R. V. Oler” for ARMA Calgary Chapter meeting (January 2015) and ARMA Winnipeg Chapter meeting, 2015.
Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch), Continued Professional Development Webinars
Since 2010, Stuart has been providing training to lawyers in compliance with the BC Law Society’s compulsory Continuing Professional Development program. He uses webinars and in-person seminars, with expert presenters, to deliver the course content. To date, he has created and moderated over 100 of these webinars. The courses he has created and moderated include:
- Paperless law office;
- Law office file management;
- Cloud computing;
- Law of limitations;
- Copyright;
- Records Management;
- Electronic discovery;
- Electronic evidence; and
- Canada’s Anti-Spam Law.
First Nations Public Service Secretariat (FNPSS) and First Nations Summit (FNS):
Information Management Toolkit, Management Training Academy (MTA), Presenter
In 2019, Stuart joined the Information Governance Advisory Committee (IGAC) which facilitates the relationship between ARMA and the FNPSS and FNS in delivering Records and Information Management capacity-building to First Nations communities.
Stuart was invited to participate in a 2-day Records Management Train-the-Trainer workshop for the First Nations Public Service Secretariat (FNPSS). The workshop of invited RIM practitioners from around BC, led by Sandie Bradley, CRM, FAI, discussed ways to update and further develop the First Nations Information Toolkit (FN IM Toolkit). The First Nations Information Toolkit is based on the LGMA RIM Manual and is a best practice RIM standard for BC’s 203 First Nations and other First Nation organizations. Stuart and other team members will be presenting the IM Toolkit RIM training workshops to communities across BC.
Stuart was invited to co-present by the FNPSS at the Williams Lake Indian Band, along with Sandie Bradley, CRM, FAI and Bobbi Bishop for the Management Training Academy FN IM Toolkit fall workshop. These workshops are being held throughout British Columbia in First Nations communities.
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
Legislative Update,
BarTalk, Canadian Bar Association (BC Branch), (1998- to date)
Canadian Requirements for Personal Information Protection (2017). ARMA International Educational Foundation
The New Can/CGSB 72.34-2017 Electronic Records As Documentary Evidence Standard with Sharon Byrch and Uta Fox, CRM, FAI (2018), Sagesse, the Journal of Canadian Records and Information
Court Order Enforcement Act amendments are set out in the Economic Incentive and Stabilization Statues Amendment Act, 2008, S.B.C. 2008, c. 44 (Bill 45)
Since 1997, Stuart has provided ongoing consulting advice to the Executive, the elected Provincial Council, Sections and Committees of the CBABC on a wide variety of matters that affect records retention including: limitations and civil liability. He also provides advice and act as a liaison with the lawyers of BC and the BC government on law reform matters, including consultations on proposed legislative changes affecting records retention and other matters. For example, Mr. Rennie drafted legislation to protect ordinary British Columbians’ Registered Retirement Savings Plans from creditor enforcement. In 2008, the British Columbia government substantially enacted the legislation that he drafted in the amendments to the Court Order Enforcement Act, which protect RRSPs from creditor enforcement.
EDUCATION
Master of Library & Information Studies (MLIS), UBC, 1995.
Juris Doctor, University of British Columbia, 1989.
B.A. Sociology (Honours), University of Calgary, 1986.
CALLED TO THE BAR
British Columbia, 1990.
He is a member in good standing of the Law Society of British Columbia.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
He has been given professional recognition and multiple awards for his efforts by:
Canadian General Standards Board Certificate of Appreciation to Stuart Rennie “for his dedication, generous support and many contributions to the National Standard of Canada CAN/CGSB-72-34-2017, Electronic records as documentary evidence. (April 28, 2017)
BC Ministries of Justice and Small Business
Canadian Bar Association BC Branch (CBABC)
- CBABC Presidential Award of Distinction (Citation) for 15 years of Exceptional Contributions to Legislative Reform in British Columbia, 2013
- CBABC Presidential Award of Distinction (Citation) for Exceptional Service, 2010
ARMA INTERNATIONAL
- ARMA International Company of Fellows, (FAI) 2019
- ARMA Canada Region Member of the Year 2016
- ARMA Canada Region Member of the Year 2015
- ARMA Canada Distinguished Service Award 2015
- ARMA Canada Vancouver Chapter Member of the Year 2013-2014
Toastmasters International Awards (public speaking) and
International Meibukan Gojyu-Ryu Karate-Do Association (Okinawa, Japan)
LANGUAGES
English
Japanese (instructional)
CERTIFICATIONS
SharePoint® Records Management Certificate, ARMA International, 2013.
“Managing Records for Microsoft SharePoint", Bruce Miller, Two day intensive, 2018.
PERSONAL
Stuart values family, community, order, commitment, responsibility, creativity, kindness, fairness, honesty, risk mitigation, human rights, a commitment to administrative fairness, due process, transparency and the importance of information technology. He places great value of learning from history in order to apply lessons learned. He strives to create value in all things, and prizes emotional intelligence and ethics. He works extraordinary hours as a lawyer, consultant and volunteer.
Stuart holds a Yon Dan (4thdegree) black belt in traditional Okinawan Meibukan Goju-Ryu Karate Do and has traveled to Japan several times to train at the hombu (home) dojo in Okinawa, Japan.
