Métis Rights 2025
December 3 & 4, 2025 at 9:00AM PST
Downtown Vancouver and Live Webinar
Métis Rights 2025
December 3 & 4, 2025
Overview
Métis rights have taken a prominent position on the Canadian legal and political landscape. Over the last two decades, many decisions concerning Métis Rights have been issued by Canadian courts. We are now better positioned to appreciate the implications of the Supreme Court of Canada’s jurisprudence on Métis issues, and to observe the different experiences and approaches across Canada.
Many challenges and questions remain, but these uncertainties also create opportunities for change. Our esteemed faculty of nationally recognized experts will take attendees through the contemporary landscape of Métis issues, and the contours of Métis rights and Métis identity. This program will also explore current litigation.
Leave this program with a comprehensive understanding of the current status of Métis rights in Canada and the key issues to watch in this dynamic area.
Key Areas Addressed:
Who are the Métis? Understanding Historic and Legal Differences
Métis law as part of Aboriginal and Indigenous Law in Canada
Making sense of the Supreme Court of Canada’s jurisprudence on Métis
Métis and duty to consult and accommodate
Negotiating and implementing Métis self government
Update on current litigation and implications for Sec. 35
The issues and challenges going forward
Who Should Attend:
Indigenous leaders, officials, councillors, Elders, negotiators, administrators, and advisors
Lawyers practising in the areas of Aboriginal law and Indigenous law
Federal, provincial and municipal government officials and policy advisors
Consultants, negotiators and other professionals who work with Indigenous peoples
Agenda
Day One - December 3, 2025
9:00 - Welcome and Introduction by PBLI
9:05 - Chair’s Welcome and Introduction
Paul Seaman, Partner, Gowling WLG
9:10 - Who are the Métis?: Understanding Historic and Legal Differences
Jean Teillet, Counsel Emeritus, Pape Salter Teillet LLP, Vancouver
Understanding the historic context
Métis nationhood, self-determination and legal traditions
Ongoing impact of Daniels v. Canada (2016)
How does the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples fit in?
Métis identity, legal definitions and Indigenous identity fraud
10:10 - Questions and Discussion
10:20 - Refreshment Adjournment
10:35 - Our Journey and Understanding of the Métis Case Law: Where Are We?
Paul Seaman, Partner, Gowling WLG
Making sense of the Supreme Court of Canada’s jurisprudence on Métis (Powley, Blais, Cunningham, Manitoba Métis & Daniels)
Implementing the jurisprudence through harvesting, consultation, self-government, and other agreements, and the different experiences and approaches across Canada
Emerging issues, current litigation and where we are going (Self-government, Treaties, Métis claims)
Implementation of UNDRIP
11:20 - Questions and Discussion
11:30 - Métis and the Duty to Consult and Accommodate
Arend Hoekstra, Partner, Cassels
Understanding the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate in the Métis context
Who should be consulted in the Métis context? Who is authorized? Who decides?
Overview of approaches in various jurisdictions
Recent case law
Recent economic/equity partnerships with Métis and emerging issues in Métis consultation
12:15 - Questions and Discussion
12:25 - Networking Lunch
1:30 - Negotiating and Implementing Métis Self-Government
Brian Crane, C.M., KC, Gowling, WLG
Modern settlements and self-government agreements
Key components of the negotiations
Path to self-government
Implementation process and timeline
3:00 - Questions and Discussion
3:10 - Refreshment Adjournment
3:25 - Alberta Metis Settlements
Dave Lamouche, President of the Metis Settlement General Council, Alberta
The history of the Alberta Métis Settlements
Section 35 negotiations and goals
Opportunities and challenges as land-based Métis
4:15 - Questions and Discussion
4:25 - Chair’s Closing Remarks
4:30 - Forum Concludes for Day One
Day Two - Section 35 Recognition - December 4, 2025
9:00 - Chair’s Welcome and Introduction
Paul Seaman, Partner, Gowling WLG
9:10 - The Boyer, Poitras and St. Pierre Trials in Saskatchewan
Kathy Hodgson-Smith, KC, Procido LLP
Status of trial following Saskatchewan Court of Appeal decision
Territorial aspects of the claim
How this might change our understanding of Powley
9:55 - Questions and Discussion
10:05 - Refreshment Adjournment
10:20 - Lac Ste. Anne Métis Community Association v. Canada
Keltie Lambert, Partner, Witten LLP
What did this case decide?
Implications for section 35 rights-recognition and other processes
11:05 - Questions and Discussion
11:15 - Faculty Roundtable - Where Have We Come From? Where Are We Going?
The voices of Métis elders and youth - What do they say?
What the future may hold?
12:15 - Questions and Discussion
12:25 - Chair’s Closing Comments
12:30 - Forum Concludes
Meet the Chair
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Partner, Gowling WLG
Paul Seaman is a partner at Gowling WLG and national leader of the firm's Indigenous Law Practice Group. He is also a member of the Environmental Law Group.
Working out of the firm's Toronto and Vancouver offices, Paul has a leading national practice and acts on complex constitutional, regulatory, and transactional matters. His Indigenous law practice focuses on projects and transactions where the Crown's duty to consult Indigenous Peoples is engaged. This includes acting for clients in the contexts of formal regulatory processes, and government-to-government and commercial negotiations involving Indigenous communities, industry, and government.
Paul regularly represents Indigenous clients in the courtroom, boardroom, and around the negotiation table across Canada on large scale and high-profile resource development projects, and in related litigation before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. The subject matter of those mandates includes mining, oil & gas pipelines, LNG, forestry, and electricity generation and transmission projects. Paul also regularly advises Indigenous communities on complex issues relating to self-governance, membership, and citizenship-related matters, economic development, and taxation. Paul is also recognized as leading legal counsel in the ongoing development of Métis rights law in Canada.
Since 2019, the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory has recognized Paul as a top Indigenous law lawyer, including in the Energy, Infrastructure and Mining Special Editions. Paul is also recognized by Chambers Canada in the Aboriginal Law – Representation of Indigenous Peoples category.
Prior to practising law, Paul spent nearly a decade managing a high-speed internet protocol network for one of Canada's largest cable providers. While in this role, he designed the fibre optic network for a school board, assisted in the design of a high-availability commercial metropolitan Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) network, and consulted with the RCMP on lawful intercept technology.
Paul is Métis, a proud citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation, and an active member of the Métis community. He carried the Olympic torch in the Vancouver 2010 relay on behalf of the Métis Nation of British Columbia.
Meet the Faculty
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Partner, Gowling, WLG
Brian Crane is a partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office. As a senior member of the firm's Advocacy Department, he practises in constitutional, administrative and Indigenous law.
Brian has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court and the Ontario courts. He has worked extensively in the negotiation of native land claims, self-government agreements and related litigation. He has also served as an arbitrator and mediator in a wide variety of matters.
In addition to his practice before the courts, Brian has worked extensively in the negotiations and implementation of modern Indigenous treaties and self-government agreements throughout the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador.
He was appointed King's Counsel in 1977 and a Certified Specialist in Civil Litigation in 1988. He is recognized by Chambers Canada as a Senior Statesman in the field of Indigenous law.
Brian is an active member of the Canadian Bar Association, and of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
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Senior Counsel, Procido LLP
With decades of experience in dispute resolution, intergovernmental relations, labour management, union negotiation, acting as director of non-profits, and entrepreneurship, it is no wonder Kathy decided to go into law. Having achieved her law degree in 2008, Kathy practiced criminal law and Aboriginal law for 15 years. Seeking a new direction for her career, Kathy now devotes her time to Aboriginal Law.
During her career as a litigation lawyer, Kathy has appeared at all levels of court in Saskatchewan, including the Provincial Court, Court of King’s Bench, and Court of Appeal and in the Alberta Court of Appeal. She has also appeared before the Federal Court of Appeal, and as co-counsel at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Kathy has worked on various national policy initiatives for the Métis National Council (MNC), including the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreement Strategy, Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtables, the Kelowna Accord, and Post-Powley. She has also given evidence at the Canadian Aboriginal Affairs Standing Committee on the effects of the McIvor decision on Métis identity. She has researched and presented on Métis Aboriginal rights law and traditional knowledge at local, provincial, national, and international forums and conducted research for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, the Canadian Education Association and the Canada Council on Learning. She has several years of research experience conducting traditional land-use mapping for the Métis Nation.
Internationally, Kathy has appeared and spoken at the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Intergovernmental Sub-Committee (IGC) on the Protection of Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Traditional Cultural Expressions and Traditional Knowledge Associated with Genetic Resources. Kathy has served on the Canadian Delegation to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the WIPO IGC and to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. She has appeared on and off Canadian Delegation to the various working groups under these international treaties.
Kathy has chaired a number of national and international committees, assemblies and meetings, including the MNC National Research Strategy and Urban Aboriginal Strategy committee, National Environment Committee, in addition to the Canadian Standards Association Technical Committee, which established a national standard for the operation of Mètis Nation Registries. She is currently the Facilitator of the Indigenous experts under the Commission for Environmental Cooperation for Canada, Mexico and the United States and the Traditional Knowledge Expert Group. She recently co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the Chiefs of Ontario and the Manitoba Métis Federation on Métis Nation Identity. She has chaired numerous national and provincial meetings of the Métis Nation, including for the national women’s organization.
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Partner, Cassels
Arend Hoekstra, CPA, CA, is a partner in the Aboriginal Law Group at Cassels. Arend is also a Chartered Professional Accountant. Arend provides advice on the duty to consult, treaty negotiations, project-related environmental and regulatory matters, mining projects, legislative drafting, litigation matters including judicial review proceedings, use of Reserve lands including Section 53(1) easements, Section 28(2) tenures, and rights-of-way, drafting of Impact Benefit Agreements and Capacity Funding Agreements, and financing and acquisition of mineral resource properties. His previous experience includes acting as a Senior Advisor for one of Canada’s largest mines and acting as a controller for a large helicopter services company serving the mineral exploration and mining industry in the NWT. As a Chartered Professional Accountant, Arend worked with governments, including Indigenous governments and communities, across the NWT and Nunavut.
Arend’s publications include:
Implementing UNDRIP in Canada: Challenges with Bill C-262, House of Commons Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs (co-authored with Thomas Isaac)
Identity and Federalism: Understanding the Implications of Daniels v Canada, Supreme Court Law Review (co-authored with Thomas Isaac)
Uncertainty in Dealing with Private Property Rights and Aboriginal Title, British Columbia Real Estate Law Developments (co-authored with Thomas Isaac)
Arend earned his J.D. from the University of British Columbia and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration co-conferred by Okanagan College and the University of British Columbia-Okanagan.
Arend is recognized as "Up & Coming" by Chambers Canada for his work in Aboriginal Law.
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Partner, Witten LLP
Keltie Lambert is a seasoned litigator with a particular focus on Indigenous Law, Employment & Labour Law, Commercial Litigation and Construction Law. She has represented clients at all levels of court in Alberta and the Supreme Court of Canada. Keltie also has extensive experience in the Federal Court Trial Division and in representing clients at the Federal Court of Appeal, and she is well-versed in all forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Indigenous Law
Keltie’s experience in representing First Nations and Metis clients spans two decades, providing strategic governance advice, constitutional litigation and ensuring the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate is fulfilled. Keltie also provides her clients with guidance on climate change and environmental matters, as well as all related business concerns.
Employment & Labour Law
Keltie offers strategic advice to both employers and employees on a range of employment issues, including wrongful dismissals, human rights claims and the duty to accommodate. She has a proven track record of successfully defending clients in court and before the Human Rights Commission. Keltie also assists employers in negotiating and drafting employment agreements and implementing best practices in the workplace.
Commercial Litigation
In her commercial litigation practice, Keltie regularly represents businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietorships to multinational corporations. She handles shareholder and contract disputes, complex contractual disputes, partnership disputes, and litigation arising from mergers and acquisitions.
Construction Law
Keltie has a keen interest in construction litigation, relishing the opportunity to represent clients in complex arbitrations. She has worked with a variety of stakeholders, including municipalities, design-builders, general contractors and owners on major capital, infrastructure and P3 projects.
Keltie is a dedicated member of the legal community and currently serves on the Federal Court Bench and Bar Liaison Committee.
Away from the office, Keltie is a devoted mother of three. Their family time is spent with sports, baking and travelling adventures.
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President of the Metis Settlement General Council, Alberta
Recognized as a strong people leader and public servant, Dave Lamouche serves as President of the Metis Settlement General Council (MSGC). After serving his Settlement community for more than 20 years as a local elected council member for the Gift Lake Metis Settlement, Dave was elected to President of MSGC in November 2022.
Through his professional career as an entrepreneur and business owner across diverse industries – from retail to oil and gas to logging to trucking, Dave has maintained a reputation as a strong communicator, an analytical leader, and a hard worker – all guided by his strong sense of integrity, transparency, fairness, and commitment to doing good for people.
He is a firm believer in equality and access to education and health care where he had brought his skills to work with Northlands School Division community engagement team and once sat as a Board member of The Peace Country Health Authority. He also believes in entrepreneurship and opportunity creation and has served the community on projects related to resource development and energy.
Fluent in both Cree and English, Dave has been able to use those language skills and to maximize his post-secondary education in business management to help negotiate positive outcomes for his Settlement over the years, and to clearly communicate with those he represented in his leadership role.
Dave lives with his wife in the Gift Lake Settlement and divides his time between his home there and Edmonton in his role as President. In the past, he volunteered much of his time coaching minor hockey and baseball, he is also known to don on the equipment occasionally still today.
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Counsel Emeritus, Pape Salter Teillet LLP, Vancouver
As of January 1, 2024, Jean Teillet is retired and no longer entitled to practice law. As of that date, Ms. Teillet is Emeritus Counsel with Pape Salter Teillet LLP.
Jean was long engaged in negotiations and litigation with provincial and federal governments concerning Métis and First Nation land rights, harvesting rights and self-government. She served as counsel before all levels of court, including lead counsel for the landmark case R. v. Powley in which the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed constitutional protection of Métis harvesting rights. Among other significant Indigenous rights cases, she was co-counsel with Arthur Pape in Taku River Tlingit First Nation v. B.C., the companion case to Haida Nation v. B.C., in which the Supreme Court of Canada established consultation requirements. For fourteen years she was a negotiation advisor for the Sto:lo Xwexwilmexw in the BC treaty process and was part of the Pape Salter Teillet LLP legal team on the Tlicho Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement negotiations.
Jean was a founder of the Métis Nation of Ontario and the National Aboriginal Moot. She sat on the MMIWG Federal Sub-Working group. Jean is past Vice President and Treasurer of the Indigenous Bar Association of Canada and a former member of the Canadian Judicial Council Chairperson’s Advisory Group, the National Research Advisory Committee (Métis National Council) and the Equity Committee of the Law Society of Upper Canada.
In 2020 Jean’s popular history The North-West is Our Mother won the Carol Shields History Award and was shortlisted for the Canadian Law and Society Association W. Wesley Pue Book Prize. She was awarded the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Cross for service to Canada. She has been made an honorary lifetime member of the Association of Ontario Midwives for her contributions to Ontario midwifery. Jean was awarded the Indigenous Peoples’ Council award by the Indigenous Bar Association and she received a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Law Society of Upper Canada’s first ever Lincoln Alexander Award for community service. Jean has three honorary doctorates from the University of Guelph, the Law Society of Ontario and Windsor University.
Jean is a frequent author and lecturer on issues surrounding access to justice, Indigenous rights, identity, and history. Her annual publication, Métis Law in Canada was the principle resource on Métis rights and case law. She has presented internationally in Russia, Poland, Israel, Japan, United States and China. In Canada, she has spoken at conferences for the National Judicial Institute, Association for Canadian Studies, the Law Society of Ontario, the Ontario Native Justices of the Peace, the Universities of Alberta, Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Toronto, among others. She has been on faculty at the Banff Centre and the Allard School of Law where she taught self-government negotiation, methodologies for understanding traditional Indigenous law, constitutional law, and Métis law. She frequently lectured at the faculties of law across the country.
In 2019 Jean wrote a popular history, The North-West is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation, which was published by HarperCollins and was listed as one of the Globe & Mail’s top 100 books of 2019. In 2024 the Vancouver Chamber Choir will premiere a Métis suite of songs she wrote in collaboration with Métis composer Pat Carrabre. Jean has been a fibre artist for over forty years and she created all four of the replica wampum belts in the collection at the Law School of the University of Toronto. One belt, the Two-Row Wampum Belt, hangs in Flavelle Hall at the Law School. Jean also created another belt for the Stó:lō Xwexwilmexw called the S’ólh Lets’emót Swṓqw’elh. Both the Swṓqw’elh and the Two-Row Wampum Belt are symbols of two different peoples living together with different laws and customs within a relationship built on respect and truth.
Jean received her LL.B and LL.M from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
Jean has been recognized as a “best lawyer” in Vancouver by Best Lawyers in Canada and as a “leading lawyer” nationally by Chambers & Partners. She was ranked as one of the “most frequently recommended” leading practitioners in the field of Indigenous law in the peer rankings published by Lexpert Magazine.
Jean currently sits on the boards of PEN Canada, the Glenbow Museum, Indspire, and Save the Children Canada.
Registration Form
Program:
Métis Rights 2025
Date:
December 3 & 4, 2025
Location:
UBC Robson Square (800 Robson Street - Classroom level), Vancouver, BC
Registration:
The registration fee is $1,280.00 plus GST of $64.00 totaling $1,344.00 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 November 3, 2025 and receive a $150 discount on the registration fee ($1,130.00 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. (PST). 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 (November 26, 2025). 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 9 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.