Developments in Aboriginal and Indigenous Law 2026
October 28 & 29, 2026 at 9:00AM PDT
Downtown Vancouver and Live Webinar
Developments in Aboriginal and Indigenous Law 2026
October 28 & 29, 2026
Overview
Discover the evolving landscape of Aboriginal and Indigenous law in Canada at PBLI’s annual conference covering the latest developments in this dynamic field. Staying informed is crucial for advisors to effectively support their clients whether they be First Nations, Indigenous individuals, businesses or provincial and federal government. Join us as we bring together leading experts who will delve into the latest developments in litigation, governance and economic development, offering practical insights and strategic guidance. This program is designed to equip you with the knowledge to navigate challenges and seize opportunities in the field of Aboriginal and Indigenous law. Don’t miss your chance—register today to ensure you’re prepared for what lies ahead.
Key Areas Addressed:
The impact on major projects - UNDRIP and the transformation of the duty to consult
The key cases on treaty interpretation, Indigenous legal orders, and Living Treaties
The honour of the crown beyond government
Aboriginal title in light of the recent court of appeal decision in Nuchatlaht v. British Columbia
What insight and direction can we take from the recent court decisions?
Aboriginal title and private property - competing property regimes – the recent decisions in Cowichan (B.C.) (2025) and Wolastoqey Nation (N.B.) (2025)
Environmental stewardship approaches on Aboriginal lands
Legislative reconciliation and the next frontiers of sectoral self-government for First Nations and Inuit
Consent frameworks in practice
Citizenship, membership and second generation cut-off
This Forum is Designed For:
Lawyers practising in the areas of Aboriginal law, administrative law, and business law
Aboriginal leaders, officials, councillors, elders, negotiators, administrators, and advisors
Owners, managers and representatives of resource development companies and companies operating on Crown land
Federal, provincial and municipal government officials and policy advisors
Consultants, accountants, financial planners, and others assisting First Nations with financial matters and business operations
Agenda
Day One - October 28, 2026
9:00 - Welcome and Introduction by PBLI
9:05 - Chairs’ Welcome and Introduction
Karey Brooks, K.C.
JFK Law LLP, Vancouver
Sara Mainville
JFK Law LLP, Toronto
9:15 - The Impact on Major Projects - UNDRIP and the Transformation of the Duty to Consult
Lisa C. Fong, K.C.
Ng Ariss Fong Lawyers, Vancouver
Ruben Tillman
Ng Ariss Fong Lawyers, Vancouver
Lara Koerner-Yeo
JFK Law LLP, Toronto
The Key Cases – Gitxaala v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner; Kebaowek First Nation v. Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and Saskatchewan (Environment) v. Métis Nation – Saskatchewan
Is UNDRIP becoming operationalized through administrative law?
Does “free, prior and informed consent” meaningfully alter consultation doctrine?
Is Canadian consultation law moving toward substantive outcomes rather than procedural adequacy?
How should tribunals and regulators incorporate UNDRIP into decision-making?
The future relationship between Haida consultation doctrine and UNDRIP
Parallel proceedings and the procedural realities of Indigenous rights litigation
Consultation obligations in the context of unresolved Métis rights and title claims
10:25 - Questions and Discussion
10:40 - Refreshment Adjournment
10:55 - The Key Cases on Treaty Interpretation, Indigenous Legal Orders, and Living Treaties
Senwung Luk
Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, Toronto
The Cases - Restoule v. Canada (2024) and Colville Lake Renewable Resources Council v. Northwest Territories (Minister of Environment and Natural Resources) (2025)
Indigenous legal orders in treaty interpretation
Indigenous knowledge as law and evidence
Historic treaties as “living relationships”
Treaty implementation versus historic interpretation
12:00 - Questions and Discussion
12:15 - Networking Lunch
1:15 - The Honour of the Crown Beyond Government
Molly Churchill
JFK Law LLP, Toronto
The recent cases:
Innus de Uashat et de Mani-Utenam c. Hydro-Québec (2025) and Québec (Attorney General) v. Pekuakamiulnuatsh Takuhikan (2024)
Crown corporations and the honour of the Crown
Good faith obligations in negotiations
Remedies for dishonourable conduct
Modern agreements and fiduciary principles
2:05 - Questions and Discussion
2:20 - Refreshment Adjournment
2:30 - Aboriginal Title in Light of the Recent Court of Appeal Decision in Nuchatlaht v. British Columbia (2026)
Owen L. Stewart
Lawyer
Evidentiary standards for proving Aboriginal title
Occupation, exclusivity, and continuity after Tsilhqot’in
Partial declarations of title and site-specific title claims
Strategic considerations in modern Aboriginal title litigation
Implications of Nuchatlaht for future title litigation across Canada
3:20 - Questions and Discussion
3:30 - Faculty Roundtable: What insight and direction can we take from the recent court decisions?
4:00 - Questions and Discussion
4:10 - Chairs’ Closing Remarks for Day One
4:15 - Forum Concludes for Day One
Day Two - October 29, 2026
9:00 - Chairs’ Welcome to Day Two
Karey Brooks, K.C.
JFK Law LLP, Vancouver
Sara Mainville
JFK Law LLP, Toronto
9:10 - Aboriginal Title and Private Property - Competing Property Regimes – The Recent Decisions in Cowichan (B.C.) (2025) and Wolastoqey Nation (N.B.) (2025)
David Robbins
Woodward and Company, Victoria
Renee Pelletier
Olthius, Kleer, Townshend, LLP, Toronto
A review of the cases: Cowichan Tribes v. Canada — 2025 BCSC 1490 and J.D. Irving, Limited et al. v. — 2025 NBCA 129
Interaction between Aboriginal title and fee simple interests
Private land and historic Crown grants
Remedies and implications for landowners and governments
Procedural and constitutional implications of large-scale title claims
10:35 - Questions and Discussion
10:50 - Refreshment Adjournment
11:05 - Environmental Stewardship Approaches on Aboriginal Lands
Indigenous Protected Conservation Areas (IPCAs)
Update on the Blueberry River Agreement
What is happening on the ground and in the waters in Haida Gwaii?
11:50 - Questions and Discussion
12:00 - Networking Lunch
1:00 - Legislative Reconciliation and the Next Frontiers of Sectoral Self-Government for First Nations and Inuit
Bill C-92
Creation of National Standards
Child welfare jurisdiction for Cowichan children
Education jurisdiction in Indigenous communities
Health jurisdiction (BC or another jurisdiction)
Which communities have taken up responsibility for these matters?
1:50 - Questions and Discussion
2:00 - Consent Frameworks in Practice
Sara Mainville
JFK Law LLP, Toronto
How the issues are covered in the framework agreements
Key issues to address in the framework agreements
How can we achieve more certainty?
2:40 - Questions and Discussion
2:50 - Refreshment Adjournment
3:00 - Citizenship, Membership and Second Generation Cut-Off
Claire Truesdale
JFK Law LLP, Vancouver
The case law
Understanding membership
Indian Act amendments
Charter challenges
What new approaches can be explored?
4:00 - Questions and Discussion
4:10 - Chairs’ Closing Remarks
4:20 - Forum Concludes
Meet the Co-Chairs
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Partner, JFK Law LLP, Vancouver
Karey primarily acts for First Nations and First Nations organizations in court and negotiations with government and industry on matters relating to Aboriginal rights and title, consultation, regulatory matters, including environmental assessments, and general governance matters, including status and membership issues. Karey also has experience in other public law related work, including with respect to Charter rights litigation and public inquiries.
Karey was one of the original members of the firm in 2009. She specializes in civil litigation, focusing on Aboriginal, constitutional, and administrative law. She has represented clients at all levels of court across British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Karey’s primary role involves advocating for First Nations and their organizations in both legal and negotiation contexts with governments and industries on issues related to Aboriginal rights and title, consultation, regulatory matters and general governance issues like status and membership.
In her extensive legal career, Karey has handled complex litigation involving Indigenous rights including:
Representing Beaver Lake Cree Nation in addressing the industrial impacts on traditional lands, enforcing treaty rights protections, and securing a landmark advance cost order for government-funded litigation costs.
Representing Kwikwetlem First Nation in its Aboriginal title claim, tackling novel issues of land rights extinguishment and Charter claims due to an absent Aboriginal land title registration system.
Representing Grassy Narrows First Nation in challenging the provincial authority’s application of the “taking up” clause under Treaty 3.
Representing Snaw-Naw-As Nation in reclaiming lands no longer used for railway purposes and pursuing remediation damages.
Representing Ermineskin First Nation in a Charter claim for safe drinking water on the reserve.
Representing Mikisew Cree Nation in enforcing government consultation obligations on legislative changes affecting treaty rights.
Representing individuals challenging the Peters Nation Band Council’s membership denial decisions.
Additionally, Karey has extensive experience in public law, including Charter rights and public inquiries, having served as Associate Commission Counsel for the BC Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry (the Oppal Commission). She is currently the lead counsel in a class action against WestJet Airlines, focusing on systemic breach of contract issues, particularly the adequacy of the airline’s anti-harassment program.
Karey is highly regarded in the legal community, recognized by “Benchmark Litigation” and “Chambers and Partners” for her expertise in Aboriginal Law. She has been named one of The Best Lawyers in Canada in Aboriginal Law since 2017 and received accolades such as the UBC Law School Outstanding Young Alumnus Award in 2016 and was listed as one of Canada’s legal Rising Stars by Lexpert in 2015. Since 2017, she has also been ranked as a Leading Lawyer in Aboriginal Law by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory.
In 2021, Karey was appointed King’s Counsel. In 2022, Karey was elected as a Fellow into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.
Karey is regularly asked to chair and present in CLE programs on topics relating to aboriginal law and advocacy including for the CLE, Trial Lawyers, and PBLI. Karey also pursues continuous education, holding two Masters of Law degrees from Osgoode Hall Law School.
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Managing Partner, JFK Law LLP, Toronto
Sara Mainville has been a member of the Ontario bar (2005), the BC bar (2022), and the Saskatchewan bar (2024) with specific matter approvals to practice in Nunavut and Quebec. Sara has a Management/Public Administration degree (Lethbridge) and a Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University. She has a LLM from the University of Toronto, an Advanced Negotiations certificate from Harvard University, a certificate in ADR, Media training, and a Certificate in Entertainment Law (Osgoode PD).
During her early practice years with a well-known Anishinaabe law firm, Sara completed her LL.M (University of Toronto) and a thesis titled: Manidoo Mazina’igan: An Anishinaabe perspective Treaty 3, which was one of the earliest examples of Indigenous (“Miinigoziwin”) constitutional research by a legal practitioner.
Sara continues to work with First Nations and Inuit clients and is one of the few practicing lawyers that works as much within Indigenous constitutionalism and ”Indigenous law” as within the Canadian constitutional order (“Aboriginal law”).
In 2014, Sara was elected as Chief of Couchiching First Nation after the sudden death of her friend and mentor, Chief Chuck McPherson. During that term she ensured that the First Nation has strong policy going forward, a good social media presence to engage the many off-reserve members in community affairs and she livestreamed her Chief and Council and community meetings. Sara uses this experience as a former Chief to help leadership work past difficult issues, within Indigenous forms of dispute resolution, and walk the community through processes to encourage discourse and grassroots solutions to long-held problems. Sara is a strong believer that self-determination requires the Indigenization of our policies, approaches, and legal frameworks.
Sara Mainville is very proud of her participation in the negotiations that led to the creation of the First Nation Sovereign Wealth LP (FNSWLP), a partnership of 129 First Nations in Ontario. Directed by a Chiefs’ Committee on Energy, Sara was active in the negotiations that resulted in the commercial transaction between the Province of Ontario and the FNSWLP of 14 million Hydro One shares and $29 million in seed capital to facilitate long-term wealth creation for the partnering First Nations. The lengthy discussions to transaction closing were completed between October 2015 to the final days of December 2017.
Sara has completed Advanced Negotiations training at Harvard University and dispute resolution, legislative drafting, and mediation training at professional institutes in order to advance her clients’ long held goals for self-determination and truer treaty partnerships in Canada.
Recently, Sara has received a certificate in Entertainment Law, and she has helped clients with Indigenous intellectual property, copyright, and title issues to accommodate better approaches to recognize collective Indigenous knowledge system, community protocol, and cultural ways and values. She is very committed to mentor JFK Lawyers and facilitate legal practices that are better suited to serve the self-determination and ambitions of our clients.
Sara is generally seen as a subject-matter expert about Crown-Indigenous relations, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaty 3, and Anishinaabe Inakonigewin. However, Sara sees herself as a life-long learner willing to meet in community, read voraciously, and listen intently to better understand Indigenous knowledge systems across Canada.
Sara is on the boards of the Ontario Bar Association and the Shine Network. She was formerly on the boards of Ecojustice and the Catherine Donnelly Foundation. Sara Mainville loves to teach and she is part of a team of JFK Lawyers teaching Nation-building and Inherent jurisdiction at Osgoode Law School in Toronto. Sara is also the Managing Partner of JFK Law LLP.
Meet the Faculty
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Partner, Ng Ariss Fong Lawyers, Vancouver
Lisa’s love for great pie is equally matched by her respect for the law. She believes that good law is necessary to maintain a fair and just society and that we are all responsible for maintaining good law. She applies this belief to pie also.
Her practice is a blend of administrative, aboriginal and environmental litigation, and advising governmental bodies.
In professional regulatory law, Lisa advises both regulatory bodies and professionals. This breadth of her experience gives her a depth of knowledge that allows her to serve clients with a comprehensive view of their legal issues.
She advises professional regulatory bodies on all areas of their responsibilities including quality assurance, registration, inquiry, discipline, reviews and appeals. In acting for professionals, Lisa has defended them against allegations of misconduct, incompetence, and lack of good character in registration matters.
Lisa has the privilege of assisting Indigenous governments in asserting the aboriginal rights and title of their peoples. She has a special interest in energy projects and assisting her Indigenous clients in exercising their governance powers to determine whether such projects should proceed.
Her practice also extends to general commercial litigation including a variety of contract disputes (e.g. leases, employment contracts, purchase and sale agreements, and shareholders’ agreements), and tort disputes (e.g. negligence, economic interference, and interference with property).
Significant matters include:
Gitxaala Nation v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2025 BCCA 430 [establishing that a common law presumption of conformity with UNDRIP applies to Canada’s domestic law, and that inconsistencies between laws of BC and UNDRIP are justiciable under BC’s DRIPA s. 3], allowing an appeal on an aspect of 2023 BCSC 1680 [a judicial review about the legality of mineral tenures grants without prior Indigenous consultation, and establishing that the Crown must consult with Indigenous peoples before granting mineral tenures on their territories];
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. The Health Professions Review Board, 2022 BCCA 10 [Dawson] (HPRB’s application for leave to appeal to the SCC dismissed);
College of Midwives of British Columbia v. MaryMoon, 2020 BCCA 224;
Reference re: the Environmental Management Act, S.C.C. Court File No. 38682, January 16, 2020 [concerning proposed amendments to B.C.’s Environmental Management Act – representing Heiltsuk First Nation as an Intervenor];
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. Health Professions Review Board, 2019 BCSC 539 [Feldman];
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. Health Professions Review Board, 2018 BCSC 2021 [Dawson];
Maroofi v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, 2017 BCSC 1558 and Maroofi v. Health Professions Review Board, 2020 BCSC 1243;
Gitxaala Nation and others v. Her Majesty the Queen, 2016 FCA 187 [duty to consult on Northern Gateway Enbridge pipeline];
Ktunaxa Nation v British Columbia (SCC file 36664; appeal of 2015 BCCA 352) [aboriginal spirituality – intervenor factum];
Scott v. College of Massage Therapists, 2016 BCCA 180 [interim suspension];
College of Massage Therapists of BC v. Martin (CMTBC Discipline Committee 2015) [sexual misconduct and penalty decisions];
Cohen Commission on the Inquiry into the Decline of Fraser River Sockeye Salmon (2010-2011);
Public Commission on Legal Aid (2010);
Newman v. Halstead, 2006 BCSC 65 [defamation of professionals]; and
Stuart v. British Columbia College of Teachers, 2005 BCSC 645 [competence].
Lisa works with First Nations on law reform, which in recent years has included Canada’s Indigenous consultations on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, the Navigation Protection Act, the National Energy Board Act, the Pilotage Act, and the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, and British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act.
Lisa regularly gives presentations in her areas of practice and writes for the firm’s two blogs. She is a member of the Boards of Directors of the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation, and the British Columbia Law Institute. See the firm’s events page here.
When not working, Lisa can be seen at Vancouver’s hippest pie spots. She does not bake her own pies because she’s a terrible baker, but actively befriends people who can bake great pies.
Lisa practices through Lisa C. Fong (2024) Law Corporation.
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Senior Associate, JFK Law LLP, Toronto
Mary (Molly) Churchill was called to the Ontario bar in 2017, and her practice has focused on holding the powerful to account.
She is a graduate of McGill University’s joint social work and law program, where she earned an MSW alongside her common law and civil law degrees. Upon graduation, Molly clerked for the honourable Justice Leonard Mandamin (ret.) at the Federal Court of Canada as he presided over a complex trial brought by seven Anishinaabeg First Nations in south-central Ontario about the 1923 Williams Treaties and honour of the Crown.
Molly entered law school with a desire to learn more about how the Canadian state justifies itself and conceptualizes its relationship with Indigenous nations from a legal standpoint. Throughout her time at law school, Molly sought out and created opportunities to learn not only about Canadian legal traditions, but also about Indigenous legal traditions and understandings of treaties. She is committed to continuing this learning.
Molly has appeared before all levels of Court in Ontario as well as before several administrative tribunals. Prior to joining JFK Law LLP in October 2022, Molly often traveled to northern Ontario to work with clients from Treaty 9, Treaty 5, and Treaty 3 territories. Her work included litigation and negotiation in the area of First Nations child welfare reform as well as police accountability work. Molly is thrilled to be joining JFK Law LLP as an associate in its Toronto office.
Molly grew up with her two brothers in Toronto and is the daughter of Irish-American immigrants to Canada. She loves basketball, baking, and her big extended family.
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Partner, Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, Toronto
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Partner, Ratcliff & Company
Lisa is a leading legal advisor with extensive experience representing First Nations in protecting and asserting their rights through engagement with the government and, when necessary, in litigation. With a focus on Aboriginal rights and title, she has been legal counsel in many landmark cases and resulting significant developments advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples in British Columbia and beyond. In addition to Aboriginal rights and title litigation, Lisa has expertise in:
Environmental and natural resources law
First Nations consultation, negotiations and reconciliation agreements
Regulatory and administrative law
Constitutional law (Charter and jurisdiction)
Social justice and human rights
Indigenous self-governance initiatives
Workplace investigations
Implementation of the United Nations on the Declaration of Indigenous Peoples
First Nations elections, including as a member of First Nations election appeal board and in review of elections
Recently, Lisa was legal counsel for one of two First Nations (Ehattesaht First Nation) who successfully challenged the mineral tenure regime in British Columbia on the basis that it did not uphold the duty to consult and was inconsistent with UNDRIP. On December 5, 2025, the BC Court of Appeal released their decision in the case affirming that UNDRIP applies to the laws of British Columbia, and, that First Nations may raise UNDRIP rights in consultation (Gitxaala First Nation v. British Columbia, 2025 BCCA 430). The decision sets a long-awaited and important precedent.
Lisa was one of a team of lawyers on the Blueberry River First Nations treaty rights litigation that proved that the cumulative effect of industrial development in their territory violated their s. 35 treaty rights (Yahey v. British Columbia, 2021 BCSC 1287). For decades, Blueberry had witnessed their territory taken up and harmed by LNG and forestry. The decision provides vital protections for their rights, as well as the land, wildlife and environment. It has led to a significant agreement between Blueberry and the provincial government that implements a new approach aimed at restoring balance between development and protection of their treaty rights.
Over her years of practice, Lisa has developed a particular knowledge of fisheries, including DFO management, conservation issues, and, most importantly, the significance of fisheries to many First Nations. Lisa was counsel for environmental organizations at the Cohen Commission of Inquiry into the Decline of Sockeye Salmon, and, has represented First Nations in numerous court actions and negotiations regarding fisheries (including the leading commercial Aboriginal fishing rights case of Ahousaht Indian Band et al. v. Canada, in which five First Nations received declarations of commercial fishing rights, and, in related litigation, a court injunction enjoining the Minister of Fisheries from opening a herring fishery in 2014 contrary to their Aboriginal rights and conservation concerns), and, a successful challenge to federal food, social and ceremonial allocation policy in Squamish Nation v. Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, 2019 FCA 216).
Other representative cases are listed under “Notable Experience”.
Lisa frequently appears at all levels of court in British Columbia, as well as the Specific Claims Tribunal, the Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Lisa has worked with numerous community organizations, including West Coast LEAF, Pivot, Deswuav and Amici Curiae. She is a past-chair and is currently on the executive of the CBABC Constitutional Section.
Before joining Ratcliff in 2004, Lisa spent three years in Chiapas, Mexico working for a human rights organization assisting indigenous communities with land claims, indigenous rights and international law.
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Senior Associate, JFK Law LLP, Toronto
Lara is an associate at the Toronto JFK Office. Lara works with Indigenous clients to advance the recognition and implementation of their Indigenous laws and the exercise of their inherent, Aboriginal and Treaty rights within Canada’s legal system.
Lara’s practice encompasses Indigenous laws and governance work, Aboriginal and Treaty rights litigation, and constitutional and public law litigation with a focus on equality rights and anti-discrimination law and policy matters.
Lara works with First Nations on lands and resource issues and is passionate about advancing Indigenous land and water stewardship, including through Guardians and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA) initiatives. Lara has a background in international human rights law with a particular focus on the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Lara’s international human rights work has focused on advocating for domestic law and policy reform that provides for the recognition and protection of the rights set out in these international instruments in Canada.
Lara has appeared before every level of court in Ontario, the Federal Court of Appeal, and administrative tribunals. She represents clients in and outside the court room, including in engagement processes, negotiations, mediations, judicial reviews, interventions, and appeals.
Lara received her Juris Doctor from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law in 2017, graduating with the Dean’s Leadership Award and a Certificate in Aboriginal Legal Studies. She is an alumnus of the David Asper Centre’s Constitutional Advocacy Clinic and Osgoode Hall Law School’s Intensive Program in Aboriginal Lands, Resources and Governments. Lara completed a Master’s in international human rights at SciencesPo’s Paris School of International Affairs in 2013.
Lara is a committed Indigenous rights and women’s human rights advocate who volunteers her time in support of Indigenous and settler feminist organizations and grassroots feminist and anti-racist organizers. She was on the Steering Committee of the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) from 2015 to 2021 and is a Core Team member of Pima’tisowin e’mimtotaman / We Dance for Life. Lara also serves as a Board member of Terralingua. At FAFIA, Lara’s advocacy work focused on the elimination of the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including the elimination of sex discrimination in the Indian Act. Lara worked with Human Rights Watch on the role of policing in the crisis of violence, contributing to Those Who Take Us Away (2013) and Police Abuse of Indigenous Women in Saskatchewan (2017).
Prior to joining JFK, Lara worked at a boutique labour and public law firm in Toronto where her practice focused on administrative and Aboriginal law.
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Staff Lawyer, West Coast Environmental Law
Andrew (he/him/his) was an environmental activist before he was an environmental lawyer: he was accepted into law school shortly after being arrested for protesting logging in Clayoquot Sound, on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. During law school Andrew helped found the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Centre and volunteered with the noted Indian environmental lawyer, M.C. Mehta. These experiences changed his understanding of what is possible through law.
Andrew is currently project lead for West Coast's Climate Change program. Under his direction the program has focused on the legal and professional consequences – to industry, government and professionals – of failing to address climate change.
Andrew has played a wide variety of roles within West Coast since first coming to the organization in 2001, from helping communities press for more sustainable forestry to working to protect farmworkers from pesticide exposure. In addition to his climate work, Andrew is lead author for the Environmental Law Alert blog and has published a series of cutting edge academic papers on the rights of the public to a healthy natural environment.
Andrew lives in Victoria with his wife, Grace and their two children, Rebecca and Colm. Andrew enjoys playing the violin, gardening and sailing with his family.
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Partner, Ng Ariss Fong
Lisa’s love for great pie is equally matched by her respect for the law. She believes that good law is necessary to maintain a fair and just society and that we are all responsible for maintaining good law. She applies this belief to pie also.
Her practice is a blend of administrative, aboriginal and environmental litigation, and advising governmental bodies.
In professional regulatory law, Lisa advises both regulatory bodies and professionals. This breadth of her experience gives her a depth of knowledge that allows her to serve clients with a comprehensive view of their legal issues.
She advises professional regulatory bodies on all areas of their responsibilities including quality assurance, registration, inquiry, discipline, reviews and appeals. In acting for professionals, Lisa has defended them against allegations of misconduct, incompetence, and lack of good character in registration matters.
Lisa has the privilege of assisting Indigenous governments in asserting the aboriginal rights and title of their peoples. She has a special interest in energy projects and assisting her Indigenous clients in exercising their governance powers to determine whether such projects should proceed.
Her practice also extends to general commercial litigation including a variety of contract disputes (e.g. leases, employment contracts, purchase and sale agreements, and shareholders’ agreements), and tort disputes (e.g. negligence, economic interference, and interference with property).
Significant matters include:
Gitxaala Nation v. British Columbia (Chief Gold Commissioner), 2023 BCSC 1680 [a judicial review about the legality of mineral tenures grants without prior Indigenous consultation – currently on appeal respecting justiciability of inconsistencies with UNDRIP]
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. The Health Professions Review Board, 2022 BCCA 10 [Dawson] (HPRB’s application for leave to appeal to the SCC dismissed);
College of Midwives of British Columbia v. MaryMoon, 2020 BCCA 224;
Reference re: the Environmental Management Act, S.C.C. Court File No. 38682, January 16, 2020 [concerning proposed amendments to B.C.’s Environmental Management Act – representing Heiltsuk First Nation as an Intervenor]
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. Health Professions Review Board, 2019 BCSC 539 [Feldman]
College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia v. Health Professions Review Board, 2018 BCSC 2021 [Dawson]
Maroofi v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, 2017 BCSC 1558 and Maroofi v. Health Professions Review Board, 2020 BCSC 1243
Gitxaala Nation and others v. Her Majesty the Queen, 2016 FCA 187 [duty to consult on Northern Gateway Enbridge pipeline]
Ktunaxa Nation v British Columbia (SCC file 36664; appeal of 2015 BCCA 352) [aboriginal spirituality – intervenor factum]
Scott v. College of Massage Therapists, 2016 BCCA 180 [interim suspension]
College of Massage Therapists of BC v. Martin (CMTBC Discipline Committee 2015) [sexual misconduct and penalty decisions]
Cohen Commission on the Inquiry into the Decline of Fraser River Sockeye Salmon (2010-2011)
Public Commission on Legal Aid (2010)
Newman v. Halstead, 2006 BCSC 65 [defamation of professionals]
Stuart v. British Columbia College of Teachers, 2005 BCSC 645 [competence]
Lisa works with First Nations on law reform, which in recent years has included Canada’s Indigenous consultations on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Fisheries Act, the Navigation Protection Act, the National Energy Board Act, the Pilotage Act, and the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, and British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act.
Lisa regularly gives presentations in her areas of practice and writes for the firm’s two blogs. She is a member of the Boards of Directors of the West Coast Environmental Law Research Foundation, and the British Columbia Law Institute. See the firm’s events page here.
When not working, Lisa can be seen at Vancouver’s hippest pie spots. She does not bake her own pies because she’s a terrible baker, but actively befriends people who can bake great pies.
Lisa practices through Lisa C. Fong (2024) Law Corporation.
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Senior Counsel, JFK Law LLP
Clayton Leonard advises Aboriginal communities and land owner clients on resource projects and government policy and legislation.
A significant amount of Clayton’s practice relates to water management and allocation, Treaty and Aboriginal water rights and other water issues facing First Nations and other stakeholders. Clayton also has significant experience regarding First Nation Treaty and Aboriginal rights matters, Métis Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal governance issues, negotiating impact benefit agreements with industry and influencing government decisions regarding major projects, policy and legislation. Clayton also represents landowners impacted by major projects.
Clayton was named one of Canada’s Leading Lawyers in The Canadian Lexpert Legal Directory – Aboriginal Law and in 2002 Clayton was recognized with the Harris Gillespie Field, Q.C. Prize in Environmental Law.
Practice Focus:
Treaty Rights
Duty to consult and accommodate
Environmental assessments and regulatory proceedings
Impact benefit agreement negotiations
Crown policy and legislative development
Water Rights
Water Issues Facing First Nations
Landowners
Publications:
“Three Out of Ten: The odds of finding a solution to First Nation water rights in Alberta”, 2017.
“Watered Down: Issues Surrounding Water Use, Legislation and Policy in Southern Alberta”, 2007.
“A New Era in Metis Constitutional Rights: The Importance of Powley and Blais”, 2004.
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Risa Schwartz International Law, Toronto
Risa Schwartz International Law is a sole practitioner law firm that specializes in international trade and investment law and international environmental law and the intersections with the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Risa was a member of the Indigenous Working Group for Indigenous Trade Policy during the CUSMA negotiations, and a member of the Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee (IPAC) for the IPETCA negotiations. Risa is currently a member of the World Economic Forum’s Indigenous Trade Steering Group.
Risa formerly worked as a senior research fellow with Centre for International Governance Innovation’s International Law Research Program.
Risa also held positions as counsel to the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs in Ontario, and the Ministry of the Environment, and worked as a legal officer at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. She obtained her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School and her LL.M. from the London School of Economics in international and environmental law.
Risa has co-edited two recent books on Indigenous rights and international law: Braiding Legal Orders (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019) and Indigenous Peoples and International Trade: Building equitable and inclusive International Trade and Investment Agreements (Cambridge University Press, 2020).
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Syilx Okanagan Nation
Rosalie is Syilx from the Okanagan Indian Band with ancestral ties to the Secwépemc Nation. She is the Vice-Chair of the BC First Nations Justice Council and an 11-year member of the Law Society of British Columbia. Rosalie holds a Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from Simon Fraser University in Indigenous Business & Leadership.
Ms. Yazzie owns and operates Nesika Law Corporation which specializes in Aboriginal law, title and rights and Nation rebuilding. She is a passionate champion for Nation building approaches based in traditional governance values, customs and First Nations legal traditions. Her firm supports First Nations clients to achieve their governance and institutional development goals through sound policy, strategic engagement, and communication.
Ms. Yazzie applies a unique lens to her practice, earned through decades of professional experience in First Nations political advocacy, human rights, and social development issues including – child welfare, health and education.
Ms. Yazzie currently serves as general counsel to the Chiefs Executive Council of the Syilx Okanagan Nation and is a past member of the Law Society of B.C.’s Truth and Reconciliation Advisory Committee. She is a member of the Columbia River Treaty Negotiations Advisory Team and has recently been appointed to the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust 2021 Legislative Review Committee. Rosalie is Chair of the Implementation Team for Bringing the Salmon Home: The Columbia River Salmon Reintroduction Initiative.
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Associate, Ng Ariss Fong
Ruben maintains a busy and fulfilling administrative, environmental, human rights, and Aboriginal law practice. He went to law school to try to “do something good” in the world. With his current practice, he can do that.
Ruben has worked with Indigenous clients to prepare evidence for regulatory proceedings, human rights tribunals, and court. He has extensive experience drafting submissions to tribunals and courts. He regularly advises both First Nations clients and professional regulators on issues ranging from employment matters and contracts to bylaw enforcement. He has ongoing work on human rights files for Indigenous people who have faced systemic racism in accessing publicly-available goods and services. He has appeared at all levels of BC court. He acted for Heiltsuk Nation at the Ontario Court of Appeal, intervening on the issue of aboriginal title to submerged lands. More recently he successfully defended a judicial review of band council resolutions in Federal Court, including on the basis that the Court did not have jurisdiction over pure expressions of Indigenous laws that have not been incorporated in Canadian law. He is part of the legal team that challenged the constitutionality of the mineral tenure regime under BC’s Mineral Tenure Act on behalf of Gitxaala Nation, which is also the first case to have considered the legal effect of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.
Outside of work, Ruben is a member of the CBA – Environmental Law Section, and sits on the board of the non-profit Action Committee of People With Disabilities. When he is not working or volunteering, Ruben likes to cycle around Vancouver or, if feeling ambitious, beyond Vancouver, and he enjoys eating popcorn while watching esoteric movies, preferably with his cat near or on him.
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Associate, Mandell Pinder LLP
Kim is Kwakwaka’wakw and Coast Salish on her mother’s side, and Scottish and Irish on her father’s side. She is a member of the K’ómoks First Nation, which is located in the modern day Comox Valley in British Columbia.
Kim joined Mandell Pinder as an Articling Student and is now an Associate, bringing to the firm her experience in BC Treaty Negotiations with her own nation. She is committed to using her legal education and career to give back to the Indigenous community in any way that she can. She is passionate about the inclusion of Indigenous ways of being and knowing in legal practice, and bringing about positive change.
Registration Form
Program:
Indigenous Rights to Water Forum
Date:
May 20 & 21, 2026
Location:
UBC Robson Square (800 Robson Street - Classroom level), Vancouver, BC
Registration:
The registration fee is $1,665.00 plus GST of $83.25 totaling $1,748.25 for webinar and in-person attendance. Registration fee covers your attendance at the program and electronic materials. In-person attendance includes a catered lunch and refreshments throughout the day.
Early Bird Discount:
Register by April 20, 2026 and receive a $200 discount on the registration fee ($1,465.00 plus GST). Discounts cannot be combined.
Group Discount:
Register four persons from the same organization at the same time and you are entitled to a complimentary fifth registration. Discounts cannot be combined.
If you would like to register a group, please fill out this form and email it to registrations@pbli.com:
Payment:
You may pay by VISA, Mastercard or cheque. Cheques should be made payable to the Pacific Business & Law Institute and mailed to Unit 2-2246 Spruce Street, Vancouver, BC V6H 2P3. Please do not send cheques via courier with signature required.
When and Where:
Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m. The program starts at 9:00 a.m. (PDT). UBC Robson Square is located at 800 Robson Street in Vancouver, BC, and our event will take place on the classroom level. Please visit https://robsonsquare.ubc.ca/find-us/ for directions.
Materials:
The faculty will prepare papers and/or other materials explaining many of the points raised during this program. Materials will be distributed electronically. Please contact us at registrations@pbli.com if you are unable to attend the program and wish to purchase a set of materials.
Cancellations/Transfers:
Refunds will be given for cancellations (less a $60.00 administration fee) if notice is received in writing five full business days prior to the program (May 12, 2026). After that time we are unable to refund registration fees. Substitutions will be permitted. We reserve the right to cancel, change or revise the date, faculty, content, availability of webinar or venue and transfer in-person registration to webinar registration for this event.
To register by phone:
Telephone us: 604-730-2500
Your Privacy:
We will keep all information that you provide to us in strict confidence, other than to prepare a delegate list containing your name, title, firm and city for our faculty and the program delegates. We do not share our mailing lists with any non-affiliated organization.
Course Accreditation:
Course Accreditation: Attendance at this course can be listed for up to 11.6 hours of continuing professional development credits with the Law Societies of BC and Ontario. For practitioners in other jurisdictions, please check your governing body’s CPD requirements.
If you would like to register a group, please fill out this form (DOWNLOAD FORM) and email it to registrations@pbli.com; for individual registration, please continue with form below.