Affirming Rights
We act for Indigenous clients to assert and affirm the full range of Aboriginal and treaty rights, including Aboriginal title.
OKT has extensive experience in litigating complex Aboriginal and treaty rights and title cases. These claims often involve thousands of historical documents, teams of experts in various disciplines and large teams of lawyers. Our internal systems are well-equipped to handle the large and complicated document universe of these cases.
Our experience includes defence, including at the appeal court level, of Aboriginal rights to hunt, fish and trap in courts across Canada.
In the R. v. Shipman case before the Ontario Court of Appeal, our lawyers convinced the court to recognize the right to shelter while exercising harvesting rights under another First Nation’s treaty. We showed the court evidence of how Anishnabe law always provided for harvesters from one community to seek permission from another community to harvest on that community’s territory.
Our lawyers have appeared on behalf of interveners and parties in appeal courts across the country, including at the Supreme Court of Canada.