Oliver MacLaren is a partner at OKT, and leads the firm’s corporate practice group. Oliver works across Canada advising First Nations and their businesses on economic development initiatives, including on-reserve business development, strategic investments, leveraging opportunities flowing from impact benefits agreements in the natural resources sector, and transactional work arising from indigenous partnerships in the renewable energy and electricity sectors.
Oliver is a member of the Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba bars, and is listed as Repeatedly Recommended in the Lexpert Directory on Indigenous Law.
Expertise
- Equity partnerships
- Indigenous corporate finance
- Structuring and governance of indigenous owned businesses
Representative Work
- Counsel to Missinippi Rail LP, a consortium of First Nations and Municipal communities formed to participate in the purchase of the 1300km Hudson Bay Railway, Port of Churchill, and Churchill Marine Fuel Tank Farm in northern Manitoba, in partnership with Fairfax Financial Holdings and AGT Food and Ingredients (Purchase and Sale; Partnership Agreement; and Government Contribution Agreements entered September 1, 2018);
- Counsel to seven First Nations regarding a 50-50 partnership to manage the forestry operations of a pulp and paper producer in the Pas, Manitoba;
- Advice to First Nations in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario regarding their investment in the medical and recreational marijuana sector;
- Advice to an Alberta First Nation offsetting their diesel municipal electricity system with renewable supply and battery storage;
- Counsel to six First Nations involving a 20% ownership stake in a 450km electricity transmission line running from Thunder Bay to Wawa, in northern Ontario;
- Counsel to two First Nations on three renewable projects under Ontario’s competitively bid Large Renewable Procurement regime (two 10MW solar projects, one 60MW wind project);
- Counsel to a First Nation regarding a 33% ownership interest in a 25MW Hydro Facility in northeastern Ontario (commercial operation March 2017);
- Counsel to two First Nations on the purchase and financing of a 37.5% interest in four 10MW solar facilities in northeastern Ontario (purchase closed December 2014);
- Counsel to two First Nations regarding a 50% ownership interest in a 100MW wind farm near Lake Huron in southwestern Ontario (commercial operation July 2016);
- Counsel to six First Nations regarding a 50% ownership interest in a 60MW wind farm on Manitoulin Island, Ontario (commercial operation May 2014);
- Counsel to six First Nations regarding the financing, construction, operation, and management of a 40 room hotel and conference centre on Manitoulin Island, Ontario (construction complete June 2013).
The Services of Oliver MacLaren are provided through a Professional Corporation.
Publications and Media
- Guest Lecture, “Indigenous Law Issues in Commercial Law”, Commercial Law Intensive, Jan 12, 2018, Osgoode Hall Law School Professional LLM Program
- “Community Growth and Sustainability: Creating Sovereign Wealth” Oliver MacLaren, OKT, and Jack Jamieson, T.E. Wealth, presentation for the AFOA Canada Inaugural International Conference, October 2017 (Vancouver)
- Guest Lecture, “Indigenous Law Issues in Commercial Law”, Commercial Law Intensive, Feb 10, 2017, York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Professional LLM Program
- Oliver MacLaren and Julie-Anne Pariseau, “The New World Bank Safeguard Standard for Indigenous Peoples: Where do we Start?”, March 2017, World Bank Land and Poverty Conference 2017: Responsible Land Governance – Towards an Evidence-Based Approach (Washington D.C., USA)
- "Alberta's first renewable energy procurement process", with Julie-Anne Pariseau, OKT Blog, December 9, 2016
- "First Alberta Renewable Energy Competitive Process Launching Soon", with Oliver MacLaren, OKT Blog, November 15, 2016
- "Alberta announces funding for Indigenous initiatives in green energy programs", with Julie-Anne Pariseau, OKT Blog, October 19, 2016
- "LRP II and Indigenous engagement: Until we meet again?", with Liora Zimmerman, OKT Blog, September 28, 2016
- "TRC@1: A new relationship with Aboriginal peoples demands economic reconciliation", OKT Blog, May 31, 2016
- "The Challenge of Reconciliation", OKT Blog, November 25, 2014
- "Crib Notes for Election Day", OKT Blog, October 19, 2015
- "Walking the talk: The skinny on self determination", OKT Blog, August 24, 2015
- "What Canada can learn from the World (Bank)", OKT Blog, April 13, 2015
- Oliver MacLaren, “Strategies for Implementing FPIC and Maintaining Peace,” March 2015, World Bank Land and Poverty Conference 2015: Linking Land Tenure and Use for Shared Prosperity (Washington D.C.)
- “The Winds of Change: Economic Relationships between First Nations and Industry“, presentation at As Long as the Rivers Flow, treaty rights conference, 2014.
- Guest Lecture (with L. Land) “Aboriginal Economic Development,” Aboriginal Peoples and Resource Development, Feb 18, 2014, York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Professional LLM Program.
- Oliver MacLaren (with L. Zimmerman), “McLean’s Mountain Wind Power Project Closes 135.2M Financing” Closing Date October 1, 2013, Lexpert Magazine, January 2014 at 29.
- “The Positive Legacy of Ontario’s Aboriginal Loan Guarantee Program”, OKT Blog Post, November 19, 2013.
- Presentation, “Maintaining Support: What Developers Need to Know”, November 2013, Association of Power Producers of Ontario – APPrO Conference 2013 (Toronto).
- Presentation, “Governance Models for First Nations Participating in Infrastructure and Energy Projects”, May 2013, Insight Conference – Indigenous Lands and Natural Resources Forum: From Debt Management to Wealth Management (Ottawa).
- “Constance Lake First Nation v. Zenyatta Ventures Ltd. – A Step Forward”, OKT Blog Post, May 2, 2011.
- Oliver MacLaren (with M. Barry and K. Sangster), “Tsilhqot’in Nation v. British Columbia” (April 2011) 43:320 Survey Review.
- Oliver MacLaren, Book Review of Native Peoples and Water Rights: Irrigation, Dams and the Law in Western Canada by Kenichi Matsui, (fall 2010) 20:2 Great Plains Research at 266.
- Presentation, November 2010, “Capable of Production: A Summary for Freehold Leaseholders” Freehold Petroleum and Natural Gas Owners Association Workshops.
- Presentation, “Preservation of Indigenous Water Rights through Canada’s Legislative Framework”, June 2010, Canadian Institute of Resources Law Conference – Indigenous Peoples and the Future of Water Management in Alberta (Edmonton).
- Guest Lecturer in Water Law, “Empowered Surrenders: The Role of Indigenous Water Power Rights in the Early Hydroelectric Projects of Alberta”, March 2010, University of Calgary, Faculty of Law.
- Oliver MacLaren (with M. Barry), “Video Evidence and the Land Surveyor in a Changing Technological Environment” (2008) No. 298 Journal of New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.
- Presentation, “Demystifying the First Nations Oil and Gas and Moneys Management Act”, September 2007, Pacific Business and Law Institute Conference – Commercial Real Estate Development on Reserve Land (Calgary).
- Associate Editor-in-Chief, Alberta Law Review: Petroleum Law Edition, (2007) 44:3 Alta L Rev.
- Editor, Alberta Law Review: Petroleum Law Edition, (2006) 44:1 Alta L Rev.
Recent Articles
The B.C. Supreme Court's Decision in Coastal Gaslink: A Missed Opportunity to Provide Instruction on Exclusivity and Consent
On the last day of 2019, the Supreme Court of British Columbia released its decision in Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. v. Huson. The decision of Madam Justice Church grants an…
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Cancellation of Renewable Energy Contracts Disproportionately Hits First Nations and Local Communities
The dust is beginning to settle on the Doug Ford Government’s July 5, 2018 order to cancel 758 renewable energy projects in Ontario. What is emerging…
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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.