What do Aboriginal peoples’ legal claims to disputed territory mean for natural resource development?
Macdonald-Laurier Institute Senior Fellow Dwight Newman will answer those and other questions at a speaking event organized by the law firm McMillan LLP in Vancouver on Thursday, November 5.
The event will delve into the detail of Aboriginal title, a question that has exploded onto the Canadian natural resource development scene since the Supreme Court’s Tsilhqot’in decision of 2014.
That ruling, which Newman and fellow MLI Senior Fellow Ken Coates have examined in detail for a 2014 MLI paper, has created uncertainty for both Aboriginal groups and the businesses hoping to develop land to which they lay claim.
Neither group can say with certainty exactly what the new landscape is – which is why Newman will be on hand to offer insight.
Among the questions he will answer:
- What is next for aboriginal title and private property?
- What do aboriginal title claims mean for the natural resource sector?
- Will aboriginal title lands make their way into the economic mainstream?
Newman is also the author of a 2015 MLI paper that examines whether Aboriginal groups will continue to accumulate more power through the courts.
Recently he authored a column for the National Post on the need for provinces to provide some clarity on the Supreme Court’s “duty to consult” with Aboriginal communities rule.
