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2019
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LEXPERT 17
Haythorne, John S. Dentons Canada LLP
(604) 691-6456 john.haythorne@dentons.com
Mr. Haythorne practises in the areas of construction, engineering and
infrastructure, with special emphasis on negotiating, drafting and advising
on contracts. He is particularly experienced in public-private partnerships,
advising owners on the structure and administration of procurement and legal
issues relating to design and construction. In addition, he is a Registered
Professional Engineer.
Haynes, Bryan C. Bennett Jones LLP
(403) 298-3162 haynesb@bennettjones.com
Mr. Haynes has more than 26 years of experience in commercial transactions
and business law, with a focus on private mergers & acquisitions, including
cross-border transactions, and corporate restructurings. He recently served
on the Board of Governors of McGill University and represents Bennett Jones
on the Pacific Rim Advisory Council (PRAC), a leading global association
of top-tier law firms.
Harvie, Alan S. Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
(403) 267-9411 alan.harvie@nortonrosefulbright.com
Mr. Harvie has practised energy and environmental/regulatory law since
1989 and regularly deals with commercial, operational, environmental and
regulatory issues, especially for the upstream oil & gas, energy, waste
disposal and chemical industries. He is a member of the firm's energy
and environmental departments.
Harrison, QC, Elizabeth J. FARRIS LLP
(604) 661-9367 eharrison@farris.com
Mrs. Harrison has extensive experience in corporate, M&A and securities
transactions in multiple industries, including energy. She represents corpora-
tions and investment dealers. Her experience includes M&A, take-overs
and related-party transactions, and public and private financings.
Gropper, QC, Mitchell H. FARRIS LLP
(604) 661-9322 mgropper@farris.com
Mr. Gropper's practice involves complex transactions focused on corporate
finance, reorganizations, M&A and commercial real estate. He has advised
boards of directors on mergers and other transactions, going-private
transactions and other corporate matters.
Griffiths, Leonard J. Bennett Jones LLP
(416) 777-7473 griffithsl@bennettjones.com
Mr. Griffiths is part of the Environmental, Energy, Health and Safety team that
assists clients with a wide range of energy, industrial, mining, transportation
and real estate projects, including approvals, completing environmental as-
sessments, conducting M&A/financing transactions, risk management
and litigation. He is certified by the Law Society of Ontario as a Specialist
in Environmental Law.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
and they know that." e Mohawk are also pow-
erful, he adds.
"I'd like to be able to tell you that things are
great but from my experiences in court that's not
the case," says O'Reilly, who was named an Hon-
orary Chief of the Samson Cree Nation of Alber-
ta, among other Native accolades. "ings are as
difficult now or more difficult than 45 years ago.
"With what's happening out west, the Trans
Mountain pipeline possibly being stopped, may-
be people see Aboriginal groups as pretty power-
ful in affecting large energy developments. But
it's not like that all over the land."
For those bands that want to get involved in
their own projects, financing remains one of the
biggest obstacles, says Nancy Kleer of Olthuis
Kleer Townshend LLP, which specializes in rep-
resenting First Nations.
"Economic-development capacity in First Na-
tions governments is one of the issues, they don't
have a lot," she says from Toronto. "ey're work-
ing on it but they've had limited involvement in
business development because they've been living
on tiny little reserves and not able to raise capital
easily. It's been challenging."
Kleer says the Indian Act precludes them from
using their land as security, so they have little to
backstop loan requests.
"A lot of First Nations are looking at business
development to benefit their communities, so
they set up limited partnerships to try to get in-
volved. Joint ventures are how a lot of economic
development happens at this point, so many are
now working on building capacity internally."
Some groups are asking the project propo-
nent for loans to allow them to acquire an equity
stake, she says. ey are also training their own
people to develop and run projects.
She points to the East-West Tie transmission
project in Northern Ontario, where six Northern
Superior Anishinabek First Nations are partner-
ing with NextEra Energy Canada, Enbridge Inc.
and OMERS Infrastructure on a 450-kilometre
transmission line.
e six Nations also formed a partnership
and created an economic development compa-
ny, Supercom Industries, to help contract, train
and employ First Nations people on the project.
Supercom already has 195 graduates, including
surveyors, power-line crew, heavy-equipment op-
erators, mechanics, electricians and work-camp
support staff.
"People are getting good educations. ey're
also going to university, getting business and en-
gineering degrees, and bringing their expertise
back to their communities," says Kleer. "It's a
slow process, but it's happening."
