The practice will bring together the firm’s energy, AI, and Indigenous rights lawyers, among others
Aboriginal law group chair Thomas Isaac will lead Cassels’ new national major projects team alongside national regulatory group chair Jeremy Barretto.
The new practice will focus on large-scale projects with a national scope. It tackles issues involving all stages of the project lifecycle, from early-stage planning and regulatory approvals to finance, construction, operations, and maintenance.
The NMPT team brings together the firm’s lawyers in the following practices:
- Energy
- Mining and critical minerals
- Ports and infrastructure
- Artificial intelligence, data centres, and quantum computing
- Indigenous rights and partnerships
- Project finance
- Defence
The practice will also be supported by lawyers from the government relations, real estate and development, private equity, banking and specialty finance, and tax teams. The NMPT lawyers have worked on multi-billion dollar complex and transformational projects; they have advised developers, governments, investors, and communities.
Isaac is a Lexpert-ranked lawyer who, in addition to his knowledge of Aboriginal law, is an expert in construction, energy, environmental social and governance (ESG), litigation, mining, infrastructure, and regulatory law. He has worked with business and government organizations on Aboriginal legal matters and related regulatory, environmental assessment, negotiations and constitutional issues.
He has advised energy, oil, gas, pipeline, mining, nuclear, forestry, real estate and transportation companies, as well as federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments and agencies. He has negotiated impact, benefit, economic development, replacement tenure, and access agreements with Aboriginal groups for industry and governments.
Moreover, Isaac has guided Aboriginal consultation and accommodation processes and agreements. He has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal, Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and PEI Courts of Appeal, the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, BC Supreme Court, PEI Court of King’s Bench, New Brunswick Court of King’s Bench, Northwest Territories and Yukon Supreme Courts, the Ontario Divisional Court and the Federal Court of Canada, and the Canadian Energy Regulator, Ontario Energy Board, and British Columbia Environmental Appeal Board.
He was named the Minister’s Special Representative to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs regarding a Section 35 Métis Rights and Reconciliation Framework and a reconciliation approach for the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Manitoba Métis Federation v. Canada. He was also the Minister’s Special Representative to the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and the Premier of the Northwest Territories regarding the Akaitcho Dene and NWT Métis Nation negotiations in the Northwest Territories. He was once a chief treaty negotiator for the British Columbia government and former assistant deputy minister responsible for establishing Nunavut for the Northwest Territories government.
Meanwhile, Barretto has obtained approvals and negotiated agreements for major energy and natural resources projects across Canada while acting for proponents; in particular, he is an expert on Indigenous equity projects. He has worked on issues involving complex regulatory and environmental processes in the renewable energy, nuclear, electricity, oil and gas, mining and infrastructure development sectors.
He has acted for proponents before federal and provincial regulators, including in-person, written, and virtual hearings. He is also ranked as a recommended lawyer by Lexpert in the energy category.
