Aboriginal law concerns the relationship between the Crown and Indigenous peoples as recognized within Canada’s constitutional framework, including section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 and section 91(24) of the Constitution Act, 1867. This is the body of Canadian common law most Canadian lawyers refer to when they say they practice Aboriginal law.

I provide strategic advice, analysis, and advocacy within this framework, particularly where regulatory processes, Crown decision making, and administrative tribunals affect Indigenous Nations, organizations, or individuals. This work requires historical literacy, political acuity, and careful assessment about how legal processes interact with broader governance and negotiation objectives.

Work in this area may include:

• Self-government and self-determination negotiations and implementation.
• Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in provincial and federal law, including BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and Canada’s UNDRIP Act.
• Inherent, Treaty, and Aboriginal rights and title.
• Interpretation and enforcement of modern and historic treaties.
• The duty to consult and accommodate, including in the context of resource development, infrastructure development, and other major projects and regulatory decision making.
• Public law remedies where appropriate, including judicial review, where consultation and accommodation efforts do not resolve clients’ concerns.
• Fiduciary obligations of the Crown.
• Indian Act and other Canadian legislation affecting Indigenous Peoples and lands, including reserve lands and land governance and administration, membership, and elections.
• Fiscal and taxation tools and issues where they arise in governance and economic contexts.

Negotiation is often not an alternative path in this area. It is a primary path. Indigenous–Crown negotiations can include treaty negotiations, self-government negotiations, reconciliation and recognition agreements, shared decision-making arrangements, and implementation agreements, as well as other constructive arrangements. I support Nations in negotiation strategy and in drafting lasting written agreements that reflect Indigenous law and authority and protect Nations’ rights and interests in the terms of those agreements themselves.

International remedies can also be helpful, appropriate, or necessary in certain circumstances. I can advise on whether an international human rights process may be available or strategic, including processes such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and how such pathways interact with domestic remedies and timing. In appropriate cases, this may involve collaboration with additional counsel.