Matt McPherson is a Partner at OKT. Matt advises First Nations and Indigenous governments and organizations across the country on Aboriginal and treaty rights, resource development, and regulatory processes. He has particular experience in matters related to the protection of water and fisheries, and associated environmental regulatory frameworks.
He frequently represents clients regarding the duty to consult and accommodate and UNDRIP as those play out in situations ranging from impact and benefit agreements to cultural protection agreements with developers and governments.
Matt received his LL.B from the University of Victoria, and an MBA from York University. He joined OKT after clerking at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Matt worked for an international advertising and business strategy company.
Matt is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Law Society of Manitoba.
Publications and Media
- Co-editor, Aboriginal Law Handbook, 5th Edition (Toronto: Thomson Reuters), 2018.
- Presentation, "Leveraging the Duty to Consult to Protect Water: Navigating the Regulatory Maze", Toronto, Ontario, November 9, 2018.
- Presentation, "Intellectual Property Rights and the protection of Indigenous Knowledge", 3rd Annual Indigenous Consultation Atlantic Conference, Halifax, October 22-24, 2018.
- Workshop, "Building Effective Partnership Agreements", 3rd Annual Indigenous Consultation Atlantic Conference, Halifax, October 22-24, 2018.
- Presentation, "Advancing Consent: Realizing the Promise of FPIC", Workshop on Best Practices in the Duty to Consult and Accommodate, 13 October 2017.
- Keynote Speech, "Treaty Renewal as Economic Development," at First Nations Economic Advancement Conference hosted by the Ontario First Nations Economic Developers Association, 11 October 2017
- Canada Ignores Concerns of Indigenous Peoples in Environmental and Regulatory Reviews
- "Premier needs a history lesson on rights", Winnipeg Free Press, Jan. 27, 2017
- Environmental Regulatory Reviews Update: Canada’s process for reviews still falling short, OKT Blog, November 14, 2016
- "What if Canada held coast-to-coast environmental review hearings and nobody came?", with Michael McClurg, OKT Blog, September 29, 2016
- "Implications of Northern Gateway decision on Energy East", with Jeremiah Raining Bird, OKT Blog, July 14, 2016
- “Supreme Court of Canada Decides Metis Land Case”, OKT Blog, March 13, 2013.
- “Overlapping Claims and Shared Territories”, The Commons Institute Presentation 13 December 2012.
- Presentation, “Conflicts of Interests and First Nations Clients” (OKT Internal Seminar).
- Presentation, “Getting Instructions From First Nation Clients: Individuals” (OKT Internal Seminar)
- Presentation, “Ontario’s Expert Evidence Reforms” (OKT Internal Seminar)
Recent Articles
Ontario continues to throw environmental pre-caution to the wind with Bill 197
On Tuesday, the Ontario government passed the Omnibus COVID-19 Economic Recovery Act, 2020 (aka Bill 197) which makes significant changes to Ontario’s environmental assessment (EA) process. How exactly these changes…
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BC Bill 41: A Promising Start to Implementing UNDRIP
The Province of British Columbia is likely to be the first government in Canada to pass legislation to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Changes Coming to Ontario Provincial Policy Statement and land-use planning
Following in the wake of the significant changes to the environmental and land use planning regimes brought in by Bill 108, More Homes, More Choice Act, 2019, Ontario is…
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