OKT In the News

5 Nov 2024 – Supreme Court denies SON request to appeal lower court decisions

5 Nov 2024 – SON Request For Appeal Denied By Supreme Court of Canada

23 Oct 2024 – From big ones to small ones, we rank the top law firms in 31 categories

30 Sep 2024 – ‘Ontario First Nations Sue Federal Government Over Alleged Life-Threatening Underfunding of Fire Protection on Reserves

20 Aug 2024 – One solution to racist rhetoric? Empathy in conversations about crime, says this Innu lawyer

15 Aug 2024 – Waitangi Treaty law tome takes Legal Research Foundation book award

29 Jul 2024 – Landmark BC-Haida agreement raises fundamental questions about Aboriginal title and private property

20 May 2024 – Rotting foundations. Rampant mould. Sewage backups. What an expert’s report reveals about the state of housing in ‘deliberately underfunded’ First Nations

12 Apr 2024 – First Nation’s land entitlement claim statute-barred, but SCC finds treaty breach by Crown

1 Mar 2024 – First Nations that have gone years without clean drinking water hope compensation signals a ‘new dawn’

8 Feb 2024 – Indigenous leaders brace for Supreme Court’s child welfare law decision

18 Jan 2024 – ‘We’re writing our own story’: Four Manitoba First Nations sign historic conservation agreement

15 Jan 2024 – Meet Jolene Ashini: Soon to be the first Labrador Innu lawyer in N.L.

5 Nov 2023 – Canada is failing the wrongfully convicted, again | Those who have suffered miscarriages of justice have waited too long for half-measures. Unfortunately, a government bill before Parliament does just that.

25 Aug 2023 – Oversight misfiring | Inquests are an important mechanism for holding the government accountable for deaths that take place at the hands of police and jails. OKT lawyer Corey Shefman was interviewed about his experience representing the families of Indigenous Manitobans in those inquests.

24 Feb 2023 – Got Land Back | Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild | In this interview with the CBC radio program, Unreserved, OKT’s Lorraine Land talks about how non-Indigenous Canadians are finding ways to give land back to First Nations (and why the process may not be as easy as it should be).

25 Jan 2023 – N.B. court finds Madawaska First Nation must be paid money made from video gaming

16 Jan 2023 – Madawaska First Nation scores another revenue-sharing win in court

4 Jan 2023 – Justice Harry LaForme to become a member of the Order of Canada

11 Jan 2023 – Lawyer for Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation talks colonization, accountability and reconciliation in light of camp raid

29 Dec 2022 – Sidney Crosby and Indigenous judge Harry LaForme among new Order of Canada recipients

28 Nov 2022 – Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke taking Ontario government to court over online gaming

22 Sep 2022 – In this CBC article, OKT’s André Bear asks how the James Smith Cree First Nation tragedy is an opportunity to think differently about First Nations-led policing

15 Sep 2022 – Łutsel K’e Dene First Nation decries ‘forceful invasion’ of culture camp by wildlife officers

24 Aug 2022 – First Nations group warns of possible GO train delays from environmental assessments

19 Aug 2022 – Justice Michelle O’Bansawin makes Canadian History

22 Jul 2022 – How the Vatican encouraged the colonization of Indigenous lands – and enabled the Crown to keep them

11 May 2022 – The Indigenous incarceration crisis demands a bolder response: Decarceration

17 Mar 2022 – Colville Lake chief stands up for community’s caribou conservation plan

18 Mar 2022 – Ontario makes big promises with critical minerals plans but First Nations advocates remain concerned

11 Mar 2022 – First Nations drinking water settlement open for claims from communities, individuals

21 Jan 2022 – Headingley corrections officer is charged in 2021 in-custody death of inmate William Ahmo

9 Jan 2022 – First Nation says Alberta is preventing it from taking control of child welfare

30 Nov 2021 – Wolastoqey chiefs add forestry companies to title claim case

6 Nov 2021 – Here’s how some in northwestern Ontario are reflecting on Treaties Recognition Week

15 Oct 2021 – Remembering Joyce Echaquan: systemic racism and Indigenous deaths in health care

12 Oct 2021 – OKT congratulates associate Meena Ansari on her recognition by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women as a “Woman Who Inspires.”

8 Oct 2021 – First Nations’ interests guide the courts

5 Oct 2021 – What are we looking for in our judges?

5 Oct 2021 – Attawapiskat First Nation seeks court injunction against Ring of Fire exploration

21 Dec 2024 – Congratulations to OKT Partners Renée Pelletier and Sara Mainville on the publication of their analysis of UNDRIP and the role of Indigenous Peoples in environmental impact assessment, in the just-released book The Next Generation of Impact Assessment: A Critical Review of the Canadian Impact Assessment Act.

22 Sep 2021 – ‘A case of potential wrongful conviction’: retired judges lobby for release of First Nations sisters

20 Sep 2021 – ‘We shouldn’t be here’: Decision on injunction to block Muskrat Falls mitigation deal expected this week

5 May 2021 – Grassy Narrows First Nation asserts sovereignty to pass Anishinaabe law on alcohol use

3 May 2021 – Former Saugeen First Nation Chief Appointed To Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

31 Mar 2021 – Minister of Justice appoints Harry LaForme to independent Criminal Case Review Commission

21 Dec 2024 – New Brunswick must compensate First Nations for carbon tax, court rules

26 Mar 2021 – First Nation and junior mining company reach exploration accord

22 Mar 2021 – Court sides with First Nations in dispute with N.B. government over carbon-tax sharing

2 Mar 2021 – Judge hears arguments in Wolastoqey First Nations carbon tax case

21 Dec 2024 – Economics of water and water infrastructure brought into class action resolution at AFN

5 Oct 2020 – Yellowknives Dene First Nation hands out eviction notices on Yellowknife Bay

24 Sep 2020 – Grey County settles claim with Saugeen Ojibway Nation

7 Sep 2020 – First Nations and Environmental groups challenge Ontario’s changes to Environmental Assessments

29 Aug 2020 – Families await answers in three fatal shootings of Indigenous people by Winnipeg police this spring

12 Aug 2020 – Innu Nation Files Human Rights Complaint Over Child Protection Funding

8 Jul 2020 – The latest on: Indigenous child welfare, the Chinook Project, moose numbers, and more

26 Mar 2020 – ‘A huge health risk’: First Nations pressured to hold elections amid COVID-19 pandemic, say experts

13 Feb 2020 – What’s your reaction to the B.C. pipeline protests?

15 Feb 2020 – Indigenous groups need ‘guarantees’ on land rights before getting trains back on track: Oka Crisis veteran

21 Feb 2020 – Your questions about the pipeline protests

19 Feb 2020 – Stop using the ‘rule of law’ as a weapon against Indigenous peoples

3 Jan 2020 – New child welfare system takes effect

18 Nov 2019 – Time for Charter challenge on First Nations drinking water

15 Oct 2019 – Yes, Genocide

21 Aug 2019 – ‘What our ancestors meant:’ Canada, First Nations create new park reserve

14 Aug 2019 – Apology to Qikiqtani Inuit leaves QIA president filled with hope

15 Aug 2019 – Muskrat Falls Inquiry commissioner addresses Indigenous concerns

3 Jul 2019 – Ontario Human Rights Commission calls for removal of Indigenous themed mascots and logos

24 Jun 2019 – Former Justice LaForme stresses importance of vigilance in rights protection at Pride Month event

11 Jun 2019 – Judge calls for health care improvements at Winnipeg Remand Centre after inmate death

6 May 2019 – Podcast: Saugeen Ojibway Nation claims to land underwater and for broken treaty promises

23 Apr 2019 – Massive Bruce Peninsula land claim headed to court

14 May 2019 – Hope will blossom if Saugeen claims succeed: Roote

2 May 2019 – Court hears traditional knowledge in peninsula claim

23 Apr 2019 – $80-billion Bruce Peninsula land claim trial to begin Thursday

3 May 2019 – Two Ontario First Nations are claiming title to large parts of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay

25 Apr 2019 – First Nation sues for title to massive, scenic swath of Ontario and $90B as landmark trial starts

25 Apr 2019 – Historic trial begins for Saugeen Ojibway Nation claims to land underwater and for broken treaty promises

19 Feb 2019 – Lutselk’e votes to support creation of Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve

7 Feb 2019 – Alberta contributes $3.3M for huge solar farm in remote Fort Chipewyan

16 Jan 2019 – Constitutional challenge mounted for Innu charged with illegally hunting caribou

13 Dec 2018 – Mississauga to remove Indigenous-themed mascots, imagery from sports facilities

10 Dec 2018 – Exploration deals move Manitoba mining into modern era

30 Nov 2018 – Harry LaForme joins Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP

21 Nov 2018 – Harry LaForme, a groundbreaking Indigenous judge, looks back in anger at the milestone Canada missed

1 Aug 2018 – OKT articling student Jason Mercredi recognized for advancing reconciliation at Queen’s University

26 Jul 2017 – OKT partner Lorraine Land explains the two new SCC decisions on consultation and accommodation on BNN

18 Jul 2017 – OKT proud to have supported clients Saugeen Ojibway Nation in their victory for fair consultation with adequate funding

7 Jun 2017 – OKT in the Globe & Mail: Indigenous rights in Canada: significant work still needed

6 Feb 2017 – OKT’s Corey Shefman at the forefront of the fight against Trump travel ban

27 Jan 2017 – OKT’s Matt McPherson teaches Manitoba Premier a history lesson on treaty rights

26 Jan 2017 – OKT’s Bob Rae reflects on Orwell’s lessons for the Trump era

1 Dec 2016 – Judith Rae explains the new Anishnabek Nation education self-government agreement