PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS

9:00am –12:30pm (Registration Opens 8:30am)

WORKSHOP A: Introduction to the Duty to Consult: Your Guide to Legal Consultation Obligations, What Triggers Consultation and Indigenous Rights

MICROPHONE Sandra Gogal, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP

This workshop will cover the essentials of Duty to Consult, examining the various aspects of the duty—the common law, treaties and legislation—and respective obligations, together with a range of topical issues including the following:

• Triggering the common law Duty to Consult, with consideration for gray areas such as infrastructure projects

• Legal requirements for fulfilling the duty to consult, often referred to as ‘legal minimums’

• Consultation obligations in treaty agreements, including implementing modern treaty obligations

• Consultation obligations pursuant to Bill S-3, the amendment to the Indian Act to provide new entitlements to registration

• Review of the peace and friendship treaty and how it affects consultation

• Principles Respecting the Government of Canada’s Relationship with Indigenous Peoples

» Advancing reconciliation

» Recognizing rights

» Upholding the honour of the Crown

» Respecting and advancing

1:30–5:00pm (Registration Opens 1:00pm)

WORKSHOP B: Fundamentals of Drafting Contracts and Agreements for Indigenous Partnership from Joint-Ventures to Resources Revenue Sharing Agreements

MICROPHONE Nadir André, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP

The first 90 minutes of this session will be instructive with a real-life look at partnership contracts, clauses, and a focus on how to tailor contracts to your organization. There will be a 30-minute refreshment break. The last hour of this session will include interactive exercises.

• Understanding joint ventures, management agreements, partnerships, and strategic alliances

• Drafting consultation and accommodation policies and agreements

• Partnering with resource-sector business including forestry, mining, energy, construction, oil & gas, and tourism

About us:

C5 celebrates 40 years of excellence! We are thrilled to have provided exceptional conference experiences globally with our outstanding team, speakers, sponsors, partners, and attendees. To mark this milestone, we’re launching a new logo which represents our commitment to innovation, growth, and excellence, represented by the five Cs of C5: current, connected, customer-centric, conscientious, and committed

Looking back on 40 years, we are grateful for our achievements—hosting global conferences, uniting industry leaders, and supporting business growth. However, we are not done yet! We are committed to pushing boundaries and creating impactful experiences and we’re excited for the next 40 years of success.

7:30 Registration Opens and Refreshments

8:45

Traditional welcome

MICROPHONE Debbie Eisan, Employment and Training Director, Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Center

9:00

Conference Co-Chairs Opening Remarks

MICROPHONE Renée Pelletier, Managing Partner, Olthuis, Kleer, Townshed LLP

Tuma Young, Lawyer & Indigenous Law Professor, Cape Breton University

9:15

UNDRIP DRILL DOWN PANEL: How to Overcome Emerging Challenges of Implementing UNDRIP and the Impact on Consultation and Engagement

MICROPHONE Kimberley Zinck, Director General, Reconciliation Implementation, Natural Resources Canada

John Desjarlais, Executive Director, Indigenous Resource Network

Bruno Steinke, Senior Director, Consultation and Accommodation Unit, CrownIndigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Keith Smith, UN Declaration Act Implementation Secretariat, Justice Canada

The Implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act is changing the way professionals address consultation and engagement. This Act provides a roadmap for the Government of Canada and Indigenous peoples to work together to implement the Declaration based on lasting reconciliation, healing, and cooperative relations. This session will discuss the legal implementation and adoption of the legislation as well as unpacking how it is to work in practice.

• Incorporating cooperation, consultation, and collaboration with indigenous communities

• Implementing the provincial framework of UNDRIP

• Determining whether UNDRIP helps or hinders consultation

» How UNDRIP protects lands, water, and resources

» Review of how other provinces are using this a toolkit

• Determining where the federal government hopes to continue taking the plan

• How does this change the emerging definition of Duty to Consult

10:15 Networking Refreshment Break

10:30

Special Message from Fredericton MP

MICROPHONE Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament, Fredericton, New Brunswick, House of Commons

10:45 HOT TOPIC

The UNDRIP Action Plan: Considerations for Economic and Resource Development

In this presentation, our audience will gain insights into the UNDRIP Action Plan and its implications for economic and resource development for Indigenous communities and industry. Focusing on key considerations that need to be taken into account to ensure the compatibility between these development activities and the rights of Indigenous peoples outlined in UNDRIP.

11:15 LEGAL PANEL

How the Most Recent Critical Legal Developments and Courtroom Decisions Are Now Affecting Consultation Practices

MICROPHONE Lisa C. Glowacki, Partner, Ratcliff LLP

Focusing the most recent significant legal cases in the Canadian Indigenous consultation landscape, this session will delve into why the case became a legal matter, the legal significance, and what consultation professionals can takeaway from the proceedings.

• Navigating recent legal trends affecting consultation

• Analyzing recent and benchmark court room cases

» Blueberry River Indian Band v. Canada

• Assessing the value of lost Indigenous lands and opportunity and the fiduciary obligation on the Crown, in the case of Southwind v Canada (2021)

12:15 Networking Luncheon

1:30

CHIEFS & INDIGENOUS LEADERS PANEL: Top Priorities and Challenges for Leaders and Communities – and Pushing the Boundaries of Consultation

MICROPHONE Sacha LaBillois, Chief, Ugpi’ganjig, Eel River Bar

Samantha Noganosh, Lands, Resources and Environment Department Manager, Magnetawan First Nation

• Implementing cooperation, consultation, and collaboration with indigenous communities

• Adhering to protocol, best practices for getting started

• Decolonizing the engagement and consultation process

• Communicating information through the whole community

• Creating continuity from on a project when the people are changing

2:30

Critical Mineral Development in Atlantic Canada: The Latest Regulatory Developments from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and How it will Affect Ongoing Consultation Projects

• Examining how the new regulatory process in critical minerals is providing support to help Atlantic Canada’s mining sector grow and meet an increasing global demand for critical minerals

• Determining what these developments will mean for Indigenous communities and its impact on consultation

• Identifying how these developments helping Canada achieve its environment mission targets to combat climate change

3:15 Afternoon Refreshment Break

3:30

Reimagining Environmental Protection in An UNDRIP Era

MICROPHONE Mona Sidarous, Regional Director, Environmental Protection Operations Directorate, Environment and Climate Change Canada

• Outlining the historical / traditional approach to environmental protection by the federal government

• Exploring the role of UNDRIP in changing the conversation about how environmental protection is considered in Canada and by whom

• Highlighting some best practices and paradigm shifts at ECCC in sharing environmental protection space with Indigenous partners

• Examining criteria required for a successful renewed relationship with Indigenous partners in the context of environmental protection – including governance, policy, guiding principles and goodwill

» Suggest how UNDRIP implementation could shape environmental protection in the context of the Peace & Friendship Treaty;

» Propose a sustainable path forward to meeting Indigenous priorities and Crown commitments

4:15

Emerging Natural Resource Projects in Atlantic Canada: Examining What Projects are Happening Now and Which Projects are on the Horizon

MICROPHONE Sven Scholtysik, Research Manager, Net Zero Atlantic

Gain a comprehensive overview of the projects happening in Atlantic Canada including status and timelines including offshore oil exploration, mining, forestry and nuclear.

• Analyzing the Port of Belledune’s new energy hub

• Understanding the recent amendments to the electricity act to allow for development where many FN are in fact being partnered with businesses.

• Examining consultation for a project’s lifecycle and building a successful planning process

• Understanding development challenges, including: Contamination of waters, Expansion of quota, Spraying, Northern Port Project - Pictou Landing First Nations

5:00

Closing Remarks and End of Day One

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Main Conference Day Two

8:00 Registration Opens and Refreshments are Served

9:00

Conference Co-Chairs Opening Remarks

MICROPHONE Renée Pelletier, Managing Partner, Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP

Tuma Young, Lawyer & Indigenous Law Professor, Cape Breton University

9:05

GOVERNMENT PANEL: Priorities and Initiatives for Consultation Relationship Building

MICROPHONE Adam Levine, Team Leader, Indigenous Relations, and Participant Funding, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

This discussion will address the consultation priorities of government speakers as well as the barriers and pathways to achieve those priorities.

• Knowing with whom to consult, including who speaks for which organizations, off-reserve groups, and native councils

• Consulting amid overlapping territories

• Identifying when consultation is legitimate and when it will be questioned

9:45 INTERACTIVE DISCUSSION TABLES

Join an interactive session where session delegates are invited to participate in round table discussion on their most burning questions, hear from ther peers, and learn about different communities.

10:15 Morning Networking Session & Refreshment Break

#IndigenousATL linkedin: VOICES: Bringing Together Indigenous, Industry and Government Perspectives

How Recent Land Claims Have Impacted the Consultation ProcessWhat You Need to Know

MICROPHONE Renée Pelletier, Managing Partner, Olthuis, Kleer, Townshend LLP

• Understanding the implications for relations between industry, first nations, regulators, and government.

• Exploring comprehensive claims, also known as a modern treaty, and the impact on Indigenous rights

• Determining what can warrant a specific claim, including unmet government obligations under historical treaties, or the Indian Act

• Examining differences between consultations processes when there is a land claim, pending or resolved

• Overview of the Wolastoqiyik, Mi’kmaq Overlapping Land Claim - Largest Claim in Atlantic Canada

11:30

CASE STUDY: Emerging Trends in the Nuclear Sector and How it is Affecting Consultation and Engagement in Atlantic Canada

MICROPHONE Adam Levine, Team Leader, Indigenous Relations, and Participant Funding, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

• Update on the latest trends and projects in the nuclear sector, including in Atlantic Canada

• An overview of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the CNSC’s approach to consultation and engagement for both integrated impact assessments and non-designated projects

• Best practices for long-term engagement, collaboration and relationship building, including the CNSC’s new life-cycle Capacity funding support program: the Indigenous and Stakeholder Capacity Fund

12:00 Networking Luncheon

1:00 INDUSTRY PANEL

Best Practices for Collaborating with First Nation Groups on Natural Resource Projects

MICROPHONE Claire Harris, Manager, Aboriginal Relations, NB Power

Dean Vicaire, Executive Director, Mi’kmaw Organization Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn

• Exploring priorities and initiatives for consultation and relationship building

• Analyzing the federal government’s latest guidance document on engaging with First Nation communities

• Debating best practices for capacity building to ensure First Nation groups can participate in their own projects

• Outlining different methods of training to First Nation groups

• Determining how to effectively source funding

• Evaluating whether an Indigenous group or community group is interested in your project

• Tailoring engagement and consultation practices to specific regions, and specific communities

2:00

Deep Dive into the Aboriginal Rights and Information System

MICROPHONE Desiree Bilsky, Director of Consultation Information Service, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

Catherine James, Analyst, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada

The Aboriginal and Treaty Rights Information System (ATRIS) is a web-based, geographic information system that locates Indigenous nations, groups, communities, and organizations and displays information pertaining to their potential or established Aboriginal or treaty rights. An overview of ATRIS and its main functions will be provided. Participants will also learn about how information is organized in ATRIS and how to conduct their own consultation research.

3:00

Breaking Down Barriers to Economic Development for First Nations Communities: Best Practices for Development Partnerships and Achieving Mutual Growth Opportunities

MICROPHONE Tom Mann, Indigenous-Business Relations, Gitpo Spirit Lodge

Justine Maloney, Employment/Economic Development Coordinator, Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association

Rose Paul, CEO & President, Bayside Development Corporation

• Reviewing the Indigenous Champion file and understanding how it aims to increase the number of business opportunities for Fist Nation Communities in Atlantic Canada

• Determining how to expand traditional knowledge including Indigenous culture and history, and understanding how it impacts project development

• Developing strategies to for renewable energy growth and Indigenous involvement

» Understanding power purchase agreements, royalties, and solar technologies

3:45

Closing Remarks from the Conference Co-Chairs

2nd Forum on