Cassels Brock & Blackwell has hired Bernd Christmas, a high-profile Mi'kmaw lawyer, to help the firm's many mining-industry clients in their talks with First Nations.
Aboriginal law is seen as a key area for Bay Street law firms with natural resources clients, as mining companies and others increasingly end up at odds with First Nations groups when trying to develop a project on their traditional lands.
The firm said in a statement that Mr. Christmas, the first Mi'kmaw lawyer in Canada, "will serve as a critical resource to the Cassels Brock client base, which includes many of the country's leading mining and natural resource companies, financial institutions and corporate entities, as well as international clients doing business in Canada."
Mr. Christmas graduated from Osgoode Hall in 1991, and joined Lang Michener's corporate and commercial practice in 1993, expanding its aboriginal practice. (Lang Michener has since merger with McMillan LLP.) He has served on various national commissions and boards, including the board of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
He won a reputation for his businesslike approach to the challenges facing aboriginal people when he was chief executive officer of the Membertou Band of Nova Scotia, and has served as a negotiator for several First Nations bands. Most recently he was CEO for the Fort McKay First Nations Oil Sands Development. He has also worked for Hill & Knowlton Canada as a senior vice-president.
David Peterson, the former Ontario premier who is chairman of Cassels and was brought in to manage talks with the Six Nations during the tense standoff in Caledonia, Ont., said Mr. Christmas would be a "tremendous asset" to the firm.
"The ability to work effectively with First Nations for the mutual benefit of their communities and our clients is vital and becoming increasingly more important every day," Mr. Peterson said in a statement.