Ahab Abdel-Aziz
Ahab Abdel-Aziz is a partner and the Global Director of Nuclear Power Generation at Gowling WLG. He has been a leader in the global nuclear sector for over 25 years.
Ahab has advised leading members of the Canadian and international nuclear energy sector and government agencies in policy and legislative development, nuclear project development and finance, licensing and compliance, and dispute resolution. He has also advised clients in the petroleum and petrochemicals sectors, mining and forestry, manufacturing, and project developers on regulatory approvals, environmental assessment and risk management.
An accomplished litigator, Ahab has represented clients in technically complex civil and regulatory disputes, including recent multi-billion dollar nuclear project arbitration.
He is recognized as one of Canada's top energy lawyers by Legal 500 Canada, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Report on Business/Lexpert Special Edition: Canada's Leading Energy Lawyers, Who's Who Legal: Canada and Who's Who Legal: The International Who's Who of Energy Lawyers. In the 2017 edition of Legal 500 Canada, Ahab is noted as being a part of an energy team that is "responsive and personally involved" and "takes the time to understand the client's business."
Prior to joining Gowling WLG, Ahab was a partner in the nuclear energy practice of a large Canadian law firm. He also served as a clerk to the Honourable Mr. Justice Arthur J. Stone of the Federal Court of Appeal, and worked on secondment as in-house counsel in charge of environmental matters for a major integrated oil company. While acting in that capacity, he advised on environmental regulatory compliance, civil disputes, criminal prosecution and the environmental law implications of transactions.
Ahab is the president of the Canadian Nuclear Law Organization (Canada) and a member of the Board of the International Nuclear Law Association (INLA). He is also chair of INLA's Working Group 3 (Nuclear New Build) and a member of INLA's Working Group 1 (Regulatory Affairs). He was a founding executive member and director of the National Brownfield Association and a past member of the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy's (NRTEE) National Brownfield Redevelopment Strategy Task Force.
He was also the principal author of its national policy recommendation, titled Facilitating a Brownfield Redevelopment Strategy for Canada, prepared at the request of the prime minister of Canada at the time. He is past Vice Chair of the Environmental Crimes and Enforcement Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA), as well as a member of the ABA's International Environmental Law Committee and Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. He has previously served as an executive member of the Ontario Bar Association Environmental Law Section, and as a trustee of the Metropolitan Toronto Lawyers Association.
He is co-author and co-editor of the Canadian Brownfields Manual (LexisNexis Butterworths, 2004-2013).