Blair P. Dwyer

250 360.2110
blair@dwyertaxlaw.com

Areas of Practice

  • Income Tax Lawyer in Victoria, British Columbia
  • Tax and Estate Planning
  • Corporate Reorganizations
  • Business Structures
  • Trusts

Education

  • Bachelor of Laws,
    Dalhousie University, 1983
  • Bachelor of Arts, Political Science,
    Dalhousie University, 1979

Professional Memberships

  • Law Society of British Columbia
  • Canadian Tax Foundation
  • Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP)
  • International Fiscal Association (IFA)
  • Canadian Bar Association
  • Family Business Association – Vancouver Island
  • Victoria Estate Planning Council
  • Victoria Bar Association
  • Has been practicing tax and estate planning law since 1985, first on Bay Street in Toronto and since 1992 in Victoria.
  • Rated AV® Preeminent™  by the Martindale Hubbell lawyer peer review rating system. This is the highest rating a lawyer can receive. The rating indicates preeminent professional skills with the highest ethical standards.
  • Former tax partner in the national law firm McCarthy Tétrault (resigned from the partnership in 1992 in order to move to Victoria).
  • Established Vancouver Island’s first tax and estate planning law boutique in 1995.
  • Was seconded for a year to the Ottawa head office (Rulings Directorate) of the Canada Revenue Agency. While there, Blair dealt with corporate reorganization, leasing and financing questions from across Canada.
  • Author of Taxation and Investment in Canada, the Canadian tax content in the Global Tax Explorer online publication of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (“IBFD”), Amsterdam (www.ibfd.org).
  • Has spoken at numerous seminars and conferences (see publications) and is a past instructor in Advanced Taxation at the University of Victoria Law School.

Online Publications

  • Author of Taxation and Investment in Canada, the Canadian tax content in the Global Tax Explorer online publication of the International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation (“IBFD”), Amsterdam (www.ibfd.org).

Conference Papers

Languages

  • Français (un petit peu): compétences de niveau intermédiaire (lire, écrire et parler).
  • Deutsch (ein bißchen): mittlere Sprachkenntnisse (lesen, schreiben und sprechen).

Teaching Positions

  • Lecturer for Tax Update Course, Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia (Victoria sessions, 2000).
  • Instructor in Advanced Taxation, University of Victoria Law School (spring term, 1994).
  • Instructor in Tax Law, Professional Legal Training Course (Victoria session of the British Columbia Bar Admission Course), 1993 to 1999.
  • Instructor in Business Law at the Bar Admission Course of the Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario) (1986-1987).

Personal Pursuits

  • When not mulling over arcane provisions of the federal Income Tax Act, Blair can be found kayaking in the coastal waters off Vancouver Island.
  • Blair also enjoys bicycling, hiking, travelling and reading history. And taking photos while kayaking in the beautiful waters off Vancouver Island.
    Blair Dwyer kayaking off Vancouver Island
     Blair Dwyer kayaking off Vancouver Island On one kayaking excursion, Blair was visited by a young seal. Did it want to be a corporate seal, perhaps?

Miscellaneous

  • Blair is a native of Cape Breton Island and enjoys listening to Celtic and other types of folk music.
  • Blair is married and is the father of two sons.
  • While working his way through university, Blair had some interesting jobs.
    • He was a freelance journalist for CBC Radio (Halifax and Sydney).
    • He worked over several summers at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site (Parks Canada) as a costumed guide portraying the life of an 18th century soldier.
      • Blair started off as a private in his first summer but ended up as a lieutenant. This, of course, would not have been possible in the actual 18th century.
      • Blair was in charge of live cannon firings.
  • Blair was a research assistant for Volume 1 of the Historical Atlas of Canada: From the Beginning to 1800 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press) R. Cole Harris, editor; Geoffrey J. Matthews, Cartographer.