HW Roger Townshend

Senior Counsel

(416) 981-9454
rtownshend@oktlaw.com
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  • Contents

    • Roger Townshend, a founding partner of OKT, is now a senior counsel to the firm. As such, he advises other lawyers in the firm about legal strategy, and participates in legal teams pursuing First Nations’ Aboriginal title and rights.

    Roger has practised constitutional, human rights and administrative law, but in recent years he primarily advised on and litigated land claims for First Nations. This included most recently acting as lead counsel in the Ontario Superior Court and Ontario Court of Appeal on the Saugeen Ojibway Nation cases claiming Aboriginal title to water spaces of the Great Lakes, and claiming a breach of honour of the crown and breach of fiduciary duty related to historic treaties. Roger has appeared in courts across Canada at all levels, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to his legal career, he worked in the area of land claims research and negotiations for eight years on behalf of Manitoba First Nations.

    Roger has been selected annually by his peers for inclusion in directories of leading lawyers in the area of Aboriginal law, including The Best Lawyers in Canada and The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. Roger was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1993.

     

    2024 LEXPERT-ranked Lawyer

    Publications and Media

    • Roger Townshend, “Recent Developments of Importance [in Aboriginal Law]” in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2004 (Toronto: Silrun Information Services Ltd., 2004).
    • Roger Townshend (with L. Land), “Land Claims: Stuck in Never-never Land” in J. Bird, L. Land & M. MacAdam, eds., Nation to Nation: Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Future of Canada (new ed.) (Toronto: Irwin Publishing, 2002).
    • Roger Townshend, “Important Developments in 2000 [in First Nations Law]” in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2001 (Toronto: Silrun Information Services Ltd., 2001).
    • Roger Townshend (with J. Olthuis), “First Nations: Recent Case Law and Developments of Importance”, in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 1998 (Toronto: Silrun Information Services, 1998).
    • Roger Townshend, (with M.J. Huberman), “Legal Limits on Drug Testing” in The Drug Testing Controversy: Imperial Oil and Other Lessons (Toronto: Carswell, 1997).
    • Roger Townshend (with J. Olthuis), “Is Canada’s Thumb on the Scales: An Analysis of Canada’s Comprehensive and Specific Claims Policies and Suggested Alternatives” in For Seven Generations: An Information Legacy of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Ottawa: Libraxus, 1997) (CD-Rom format).
    • Roger Townshend, “First Nations and Municipalities”, in Aboriginal Issues Today (Vancouver: Self Counsel Press, 1997).
    • Roger Townshend, Case Annotation on Gibbs v. Grand Bend (1996), 49 R.P.R. (2d) 159.
    • Roger Townshend (with M.J. Huberman), “New Developments in Drug and Alcohol Law” in What’s New in the Workplace: A Labour Law Update, (Toronto: Law Society of Upper Canada, 1995).
    • Roger Townshend, “Some Highlights of the Interaction of Aboriginal Law and Municipal Law” in Aboriginal Law: Issues that Matter in the 1990s, (Toronto: Canadian Bar Association – Ontario, 1995).
    • Roger Townshend (with J. Olthuis), “The Case for Native Sovereignty”, in M. Charlton & P. Barker, eds., Crosscurrents: Contemporary Political Issues, (Scarborough: Nelson, 1994).
    • Roger Townshend, Submission to the Attorney General of Ontario re: An Act to Revise the Limitations Act (Chairman of committee which prepared submission) (Toronto: Canadian Bar Association – Ontario, 1993).
    • Roger Townshend, “Specific Claims Policy: Too Little Too Late”, in J. Bird & D. Engelstad, eds., Nation to Nation, Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Future of Canada (Toronto: Stoddart/Anansi, 1992).
    • Roger Townshend, “Resorting to Court: Can the Judiciary Deliver Justice for First Nations”, (with Patrick Macklem) in J. Bird & D. Engelstad, eds., Nation to Nation, Aboriginal Sovereignty and the Future of Canada (Toronto: Stoddart/Anansi, 1992).
    • Roger Townshend, “Interlocutory Injunctions in Aboriginal Rights Cases”, [1991] 3 Canadian Native Law Reporter, pp. 1-21.
    • Roger Townshend, “The Silver Creek Surrenders of 1892 and 1898” (1989) 5:2 Native Studies Review 128.
    • Roger Townshend, “Political Change Strategy: A Case Study” (May-June 1988) 11:5 Catalyst 12.
    • Roger Townshend, “We Should Learn From Rules For Kings” (March 1987) 10:4 Catalyst 6.
    • Roger Townshend, “Special News Report” (December 1984) 4:2 Seeds 34.
    • Roger Townshend, “Ten Years to Five Hundred” (poem) (December 1984) 4:2 Seeds 25.
    • Roger Townshend, “A Debt to be Paid: Treaty Land Entitlement in Manitoba” (Winnipeg: Treaty & Aboriginal Rights Research Centre, 1984), 24 pp.
    • Roger Townshend, “A Sketch History of Land Dealings With Indian People of Manitoba” (September 1983) 3:1 Seeds 31.
    • Roger Townshend, Book Review of The National Report of the People’s Food Commission, (September, 1983) 3:1 Seeds 32.
    • Roger Townshend, “Communism and Capitalism: One Spectre with Two Cloaks” (June 1983) 2:4 Seeds 28.
    • Roger Townshend, “Violence, Corporations & Lifestyle” (December 1982) 2:2 Seeds 14.
    • Roger Townshend, “Native Rights: Even The Meagre Terms Have Not Been Fulfilled” (April 19, 1982) 12:8 Mennonite Reporter 10.
    • Roger Townshend, Book Review of Power to Choose: Canada’s Energy Options (March 1982) 4:5 Catalyst 30.
    • Roger Townshend, “Roseau Arena Built Without Tax Money”, Red River Valley Echo, March 17, 1982, p. 1.
    • Roger Townshend, “Roseau Hosts British Lord”, Red River Valley Echo, October 28, 1981, p. 1.
    • Roger Townshend, Book Review of We are Métis (June 1981) 4:2 Catalyst 27.
    • Roger Townshend, “Partners in Justice” (January 1981) 1:2 Seeds 4.
    • Roger Townshend, “Uncontrolled Northern Development Menaces Native Self-Determination” (April 1980) 3:1 Catalyst 15.
    • Roger Townshend, “See-Saw in the Nation’s Capital”, Calvinist Contact, January 25, 1980.

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