Flaman, Derek S.
Torys LLP
(403) 776-3759
dflaman@torys.com
Mr. Flaman's practice focuses
on M&A, joint ventures
and project development
in the oil and gas industry.
His clients include private-
equity funds, exploration
and production companies,
institutional lenders and
midstream and downstream
companies.
Foran, QC, Frank R.
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
(403) 232-9443
fforan@blg.com
Mr. Foran's practice empha-
sizes commercial litigation
and arbitration related to
energy, banking, securities,
insolvency and construction
matters before all levels of
court and tribunals. He is
an ACTL Fellow.
Fowler, Bruce E.
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
(416) 367-6194
bfowler@blg.com
Mr. Fowler focuses on lend-
ing and project finance. He
provides project financing
advice and services to clients
engaged in the development,
financing and acquisition of
power, infrastructure, and
alternative financing and
procurement projects.
Fontaine, Mireille
Gowling Lafleur
Henderson LLP
(514) 392-9444
mireille.fontaine@gowlings.
com
Ms. Fontaine's business
law practice focuses on
domestic, cross-border and
international PE, VC, M&A
and fund formation, and
she also has a focus complex
commercial agreements all
of which particularly in the
technology industry includ-
ing cleantech.
Fortier, Michael J.
Torys LLP
(416) 865-8147
mfortier@torys.com
Mr. Fortier's energy and infra-
structure practice focuses on
environmental and Aborig-
inal law aspects of finance and
M&A transactions, as well as
project development. He has
considerable experience in
complex permitting issues.
Freitag, Shane
Borden Ladner Gervais LLP
(416) 367-6137
sfreitag@blg.com
Mr. Freitag is the Toronto
Co-Chair of BLG's Elec-
tricity Markets Group.He
assists clients in the procure-
ment and development of
electricity and infrastructure
projects including key
underlying agreements and
regulatory approvals.
18
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ABORIGINAL INTERESTS
LEXPERT
®
RANKED LAWYERS
"You have situations where people say
there may have been a treaty but there was
no intention to surrender, or there was a
problem with the treaty-making process
that makes the treaty not enforceable with
respect to the surrendering of lands," Cur-
pen says.
"ere are a number of arguments avail-
able to Aboriginal communities including
that there was no meeting of the minds,
that the understanding of each party was
incompatible with the other, so there was
no agreement and the treaties were misun-
derstood as merely about peace.
"ese kinds of discussions, I would say,
are what are happening in various Aborigi-
nal communities across the country. While
they may not have made it into the court
process, it's certainly something we see
coming, [claims] that water rights and min-
eral rights are not covered under treaty sur-
render clauses, those are the kinds of things
coming up."
at means deals done decades ago may
become the subject of challenges.
UNEXPECTED title challenges and
the possibility of retroactive title claims
aren't the only pitfalls project energy devel-
opers and their advisers face.
Developments such as pipelines or re-
source extraction can cross lines from one
Aboriginal community to another, or over
lands with competing title claims.
at can involve an entirely different
kind of headache.
Neighbouring communities don't neces-
sarily agree on the best way to proceed and,
in fact, may have entirely different agendas
— leaving the project developer caught in
the middle, says Gordon Nettleton, co-
head of the national environmental, regula-
tory & Aboriginal group and partner at the
Calgary office of McCarthy Tétrault LLP.
"at's one of the biggest challenges in
terms of best practices," says Nettleton,
who's based in Calgary. "Industry is on a
steep learning curve to understand the pol-
itics of First Nations, that what you're deal-
ing with is indeed a political organization in
most cases and their agendas are very much,
like any other form of government, deter-
mined by the elected officials. And those
agendas change.
