12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Indigenous Law in Practice: Competent Legal Decision-Making in a Changing Canadian Landscape

Canadian legal practice increasingly takes place within a multi-juridical landscape which may engage constitutionally protected Aboriginal rights, UNDRIP principles and Indigenous legal orders. Indigenous Peoples and Nations are rights-holders and, increasingly, partners, proponents, and governing authorities. Lawyers across sectors are being called upon to work with and learn from Indigenous communities and nations earlier, more substantively, and with greater legal and cultural competence than in the past.

Enhance your understanding of the distinction between Aboriginal law and Indigenous laws, and the role that each may play in agreements as well as in judicial and administrative decisions, through discussion of concrete examples. Examine what competent, respectful legal advice looks like and learn to recognize the limits of your expertise in contexts where decision-makers, courts and regulators are navigating the role of Indigenous laws, perspectives, and governance structures in decisions.

Strengthen your ability to:

• Recognize when Indigenous legal orders and constitutional obligations may be engaged.
• Understand how courts are applying UNDRIP principles in decision-making review.
• Advise on evolving partnership and equity-based relationships with Indigenous Nations.
• Assess how the quality of engagement and decision-making is evaluated by regulators and courts.
• Support outcomes that are legally sound, respectful, and durable.
   

Speakers

Audrey DeMarisco, Lawyer, Nelligan Law (Ottawa ON)
Senwung Luk, Partner, Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP (Toronto ON)
Roy Millen, Partner, Blakes (Vancouver BC)
Sara Morales, University of Victoria (Victoria BC)

Moderator: 

Ryan Lake, Maurice Law, Barristers & Solicitors (Calgary, AB