Leaders in Mining Speakers Series: Bob Rae on “Corporate Social Responsibility & The Ring of Fire”

Corporate Social Responsibility & The Ring of Fire

“Leaders in Mining Speakers Series”

Speaker: Bob Rae, Senior Partner, Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP

Moderator: Kyle Stanfield, P. Eng., Director, Environment & Sustainability, New Gold Inc.

Synopsis:
The Ring of Fire—a proposed large-scale chromite mining and smelting development—is located directly in the traditional territories of a number of First Nations communities north and east of Lake Nipigon in northern Ontario. Of the nine communities that constitute the Matawa Tribal Council, five are remote, have no access to year-round roads, and face a number of significant social and economic challenges. As the lead negotiator for these communities, Bob Rae will describe the negotiation process with the Government of Ontario, the Government of Canada, and the private sector companies involved. He will also speak to the constitutional obligations of both the Crown and companies seeking to obtain licences and permits from the Crown, as well as the recent Supreme Court decisions about the rights of First Nations communities.

Bob Rae is a senior partner at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP, where he works with First Nations across Canada as legal counsel, advisor, and negotiator. He served as Ontario’s 21st Premier from 1990 to 1995 and Interim Federal Leader of the Liberal Party in 2011–2013. He was named Queen’s Counsel in 1984; appointed to the Privy Council of Canada in 1998; named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2000; received the Order of Ontario in 2004; and was named Companion of the Order of Canada in 2015.‎ In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Rae teaches at the University of Toronto as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG). He has written five books and is a regular columnist for the Globe and Mail. He also does ADR work with ADR Chambers.

Kyle Stanfield has worked with indigenous peoples in support of environmental management in West Africa, South and Central America, and Canada since 1997. As a consultant and in his work with mining firms, he has collaborated with First Nations and Métis communities in Ontario, the Northwest Territories, and British Columbia. He recently managed the conclusion of a three-year environmental assessment of the Rainy River Gold Mine in northwestern Ontario. The project involved working with 16 Aboriginal communities and five non-Aboriginal communities, and represents the conclusion of Canada’s first CEAA 2012 Standard Environmental Assessment in Metal Mining, as well as Ontario’s first Individual Environmental Assessmentpermitting the Rainy River Gold Mine, which commenced construction in May 2015.