INDIGENOUS ADVISORY GROUP

John began his legal career at McCarthy’s in 1981 as an articling student, and for most of his years with the firm his litigation practice focused on complex, international class actions.  In January 2020, he transitioned into his current role of Legal and Strategic Advisor, Indigenous Initiatives. He is the chair of the firm’s Reconciliation subcommittee.  He is a member of the Indigenous Bar Association, the CBA ‎Indigenous Advisory Group, the Indigenous Human Rights Program Advisory Group, the Giiwedin Anang Council at Aboriginal Legal Services (which provides an Aboriginal Alternative Dispute Resolution program for mediating child welfare, custody and access disputes involving Indigenous families using traditional methods), and the McCarthy Tétrault & Martin Family Initiative Mentorship Program for Indigenous Students (which links lawyers as mentors with Indigenous students in Grades 8 through 12). John’s family on his father’s side is Sto:lo whose traditional territory is the Fraser River Valley in British Columbia.

Celeste was appointed Chief Commissioner in April 2017. Prior to this she served as an elected Commissioner for three two-year terms commencing in 2011.

Celeste is a practising lawyer and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019. She holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Constitutional Law from Osgoode Hall Law School (York University), and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Bachelor of Arts from UBC. In 2015, she began her doctorate in Anthropology and Law at UBC.

The Provincial Government appointed Celeste to serve on the UBC Board of Governors where she is Chair of the Indigenous Engagement Committee and the Legal Services Society. She is a Director of the Brain Canada Foundation, the Hamber Foundation, and the Musqueam Capital Corporation. She is an active member of both the Canadian Bar Association and the Indigenous Bar Association. In 2015, Celeste attended the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference.

Celeste is a member of the Sparrow family from Musqueam and is Tsimshian through Metlakatla. She is the proud mother of three and grandmother of two.

Shoshanna Paul is a member of the English River First Nation, a Dene community located in Northern Saskatchewan. She is currently an associate lawyer with Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP in Saskatoon. Shoshanna received her Juris Doctor from the University of British Columbia in 2014, which included a period of study abroad at the University of Otago in New Zealand. She was called to the Saskatchewan bar in 2015. Since her admittance to the bar, Shoshanna has worked in a variety of areas including civil litigation, family law, corporate/commercial, and administrative law.

More recently, Shoshanna’s practice has been focused on First Nation governance, administrative and land use issues on reserve, corporate/economic development, and employment law on reserve. She has worked closely with First Nation governments to draft, develop, and implement their own laws and policies, including matrimonial real property laws, laws pursuant to the First Nations Land Management Act, and internal corporate policies.

Brad is a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Brad joined Maurice Law in 2017 as a partner in the Winnipeg office. Over his twenty years of practice, Brad has worked on a wide variety of legal matters, including aboriginal law, corporate/commercial law, civil litigation and administrative law. Brad continues to provide advice to a wide range of clients, including First Nation and corporate clients. He has appeared in the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench and Manitoba Court of Appeal, as well as the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division and the Federal Court of Appeal.

Brad was part of the legal team that successfully defended a challenge to a First Nation’s tax laws under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, the first litigation involving that statute. He also acted for a First Nation which became a partner in a major hydro-electric project, advising and acting at all stages of the project as well as appearing before both the Clean Environment Commission and Public Utilities Board during the regulatory processes. He has also been involved in the implementation stage of the project.

Brad has also advised numerous First Nation clients on implementation issues involving both land claim and flooding agreements. He was involved in the litigation concerning the disposal of the Kapyong Barracks in Winnipeg and has been involved in arbitrations and litigation concerning the Manitoba Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement and Saskatchewan Treaty Land Entitlement Framework Agreement. Brad recently completed a two-year term as President of the Manitoba Bar Association, the first indigenous lawyer to hold that office and the first lawyer since 1946 to hold the office for two years. Brad was also the Chair of the Aboriginal Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association for two years.

Brad is the National President of the Canadian Bar Association. Brad is the first indigenous lawyer to hold that office in the history of the CBA.