Our areas of practice
Advancing Claims / Protecting Rights
CG Law is dedicated to working with Indigenous communities to develop comprehensive strategies that will assist you in achieving your objections and fulfilling your vision. We collaborate with a team designed to meet the specific needs of a case which may include political lobbyists, the media, financial, historical, and other experts.
Experience includes advancing land claims and treaty rights through negotiations and alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, and where necessary, through litigation before the courts and other tribunals.
We develop creative partnerships between Indigenous communities, government, and industry-related to land and resource use, including additions to reserve and environmental stewardship which are designed to advance the health and prosperity of Nations.
Consultation and Accommodation
Before making decisions about the use of land and resources, the federal and provincial governments must take into account how potential aboriginal and treaty rights may be affected and, where appropriate, accommodate impacts. This Duty to Consult buttressed by International Legal Instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) gives Indigenous people powerful leverage regarding development in their territories.
CG Law has experience in collaborating with First Nations to develop your own engagement protocols and to implement these protocols in order to effectively build relationships and economic partnerships between Government, Industry, and your community, to protect the health and wellbeing of your citizens and to preserve the culture and intellectual property.
Governance
CG Law works with First Nations to navigate legislation affecting Indigenous rights, including the Indian Act and to develop laws, policies, and governance frameworks to promote sovereignty and self-determination and build long term capacity and accountability within communities. Our work includes developing constitutional and legislative frameworks, membership and election laws, fiscal management and taxation laws as well as asserting jurisdiction over the regulation of cannabis.
Employment, Workplace Safety and Human Rights
CG Law advises First Nations employers and Indigenous organizations on a wide range of employment matters including terminations, harassment, duty to accommodate and conflict of interest.
In collaboration with Leadership and the administration, we will work closely with you to develop and/or amend policies designed to limit and prevent future liabilities with respect to employment matters. CG Law will assist in drafting and structure employment contracts and will provide strategic advice and direction related to progressive discipline and termination and where necessary, will defend before the relevant tribunal or court.
CG Law would be please to come to your community to run a workshop on those issues that are important to you and/or on recent developments in this area of law which may impact your rights as an employer.
Cannabis
It has been well over a year since Canada’s Cannabis Act came into force and although the Federal Government had an opportunity to include Indigenous governments in its legislation, it failed to do so. Under the current Cannabis Act, the federal government controls production and processing, but has delegated distribution and sale of recreational cannabis to the provinces. The recognition of aboriginal governments is noticeably absent, despite the current focus on reconciliation.
Legalization of recreational cannabis has presented both challenges and opportunities, but Aboriginal exclusion in this sector has provided an impetus for many communities to design their own systems of regulation which reflect community identity, priorities and concerns and regulate commercial activities in their territories. The regulatory landscape is complex as aboriginal rights and jurisdiction come up against governmental regulation and a failure to recognize Indigenous sovereignty.
Whether your focus is on strengthening regulation in your community or expanding opportunities to participate in a broader market, we are here to help you design strategies that align with your vision and existing laws and to engage members and government as you see fit.
For further information or to set up an initial consultation, please contact Carol Godby, 519-933-5605
Intellectual Property / Protection of TK
Given the developments around consultation and accommodation since the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Haida Nation V. British Columbia (Minister of Forests), Indigenous communities are often asked to participate in Indigenous Knowledge Studies wherein community cultural values are mapped in order to facilitate an assessment of what asserted rights may be impacted, the potential extent of those impacts and how the impacts may be managed, mitigated, or avoided altogether.