14 LEXPERT
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2016
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WWW.LEXPERT.CA
Feldberg, Peter D. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
(403) 261-5364 pfeldberg@fasken.com
Mr. Feldberg is the Firm Managing Partner. He acts on all aspects of utility
regulation, energy project development and First Nations matters. He acts
for applicants before regulatory tribunals and at all court levels.
Faille, Maxime Gowling WLG
(604) 891-2733 maxime.faille@gowlingwlg.com
Mr. Faille leads the firm's national Aboriginal Law Group, and acts for First
Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across Canada, as well as private-
sector interests seeking to do business with Aboriginal communities.
Ezekiel, Ron Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
(604) 631-4708 rezekiel@fasken.com
Mr. Ezekiel advises utilities, pipeline companies, independent power
producers and other energy & resource clients on permitting, environmental
assessments, First Nations agreements, M&A and divestitures, JVs
and energy & carbon market transactions.
Estep, Laura K. Dentons Canada LLP
(403) 268-6308 laura.estep@dentons.com
Ms. Estep assists major oil and gas companies through all stages
of the regulatory process including representation before the NEB,
the Alberta Utilities Commission and the Alberta Energy Regulator.
She has appeared at various levels of court on energy-related appeal
and judicial review matters. She also advises energy clients on land
acquisition and compensation matters.
Erickson, G. Frederick Stikeman Elliott LLP
(403) 266-9016 ferickson@stikeman.com
Mr. Erickson is a partner in Stikeman Elliott's Energy Group. He has
experience in most aspects of the upstream oil and gas, NGL and LNG
industries, including the purchase and sale or development of oil, gas and
NGL pipelines, storage, processing and other upstream, midstream and LNG
facilities. His experience includes the formation of JVs, partnerships
and various synthetic ownership structures.
Egan, Wayne T. WeirFoulds LLP
(416) 947-5086 wegan@weirfoulds.com
Mr. Egan, chair of the firm's securities practice group, provides customized
legal advice to private and public energy companies on various financing
and regulatory matters, including IPOs, private placements, M&As,
governance and stock exchange listings. The firm's energy clients require
legal expertise that extends to all corners of the world, and Mr. Egan
has consistently delivered.
LEXPERT-RANKED LAWYERS
is mutually satisfactory.
As Gitxaala demonstrates, the result of a hurried con-
sultation can be a court challenge, and though it seems
unlikely that Gitxaala will be appealed, many such cases
find their way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Even
when there's no such challenge, consultation takes time.
"Very oen," Helbronner says, "the process takes much
longer than [proponents] expected. But if they follow
a respectful consultation process, they're much more
likely to come to a mutually satisfactory conclusion."
She advises that companies who are first-timers to
the consultation process must not allow themselves to
become bystanders, going through the motions of the
regulatory process. ey should understand both the
legal requirements of adequate consultation and that
each affected Aboriginal group will have its own distinct
interests. "e right outcome is going to be the result of
a proper consultation process," Helbronner says.
e negotiation of impact benefits agreements
(IBAs), in which companies provide Aboriginal groups
with specific training, employment, revenue-sharing or
other incentives in return for contractual support of
projects, has become standard operating procedure in
recent years — not least of all because it helps to satisfy
regulators. But Al Hudec, an Aboriginal representative
with Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP in Vancou-
ver, says IBAs aren't magic.
"I would not go and offer a band a benefits package
and think that that's sufficient," he warns. IBAs deal pri-
marily with economic issues, while regulatory processes
tend to focus on environmental concerns. But Hudec
says cultural and social issues can't be glossed over in the
rush to launch a project. As Gitxaala shows, every sub-
stantive impact requires meaningful consultation, and
Hudec emphasizes that companies have to commit to
the long haul.
"For lots of reasons, it can become an interminable
process," he admits. Reasons include the potential for a
project to affect several bands with divergent interests,
disputes between elected band councils and hereditary
chiefs and Indian Act requirements for council elections
every two years. "Councils don't tend to have institu-
tional memories," he notes, so any unfinished negotia-
tion starts over every two years. e longer it takes to
conclude a deal, he says, the more potential there is for
- Valerie Helbronner, Torys LLP
"Successful proponents
are the ones who look
at [consultation] from
a principled perspective.
It's not a check-the-box
exercise."
