Announcing a New Newsletter from the Chiefs of Ontario & OKT LLP

Contributed by Kaitlin Ritchie and Sara Mainville of OKT Law

Over the next few months, Chiefs of Ontario, in conjunction with the law firm Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP (OKT), will be working to produce a monthly newsletter on various legal and/or policy topics that are likely to have some impact First Nations in Ontario. There is a companion article in this newsletter that discusses the contents of federal Bills, C-68 and C-69, and the general absence of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in draft legislation despite commitments by Canada to “fully implement” UNDRIP. This first issue begins with the topic of Ontario’s new draft consultation guidelines on the duty to consult and accommodate Aboriginal peoples. These guidelines, once published, will be used to provide guidance to Ontario ministries regarding the Crown’s duty to consult.