Mac Hayden serves as a member of the Aboriginal Law Group at Cassels. Mac brings unique insight to his clients’ challenges, having served in senior levels of the Ontario government and the government of Canada.
Mac offers extensive experience advising clients on Aboriginal, environmental, and regulatory law matters including issues related to Crown-Indigenous relations, Indigenous rights, Indigenous governance, and the Crown’s duty to consult. Mac’s practice also involves advising industry, provincial governments and agencies, and municipalities regarding project planning and approvals, including regulatory and environmental requirements.
Mac offers experience with litigation matters including judicial review proceedings and has contributed to several interventions and cases brought to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding important Aboriginal and environmental law issues.
Prior to joining Cassels, Mac worked in the Vancouver office of a global law firm.
Select Industry-side Mandates
- Drafting and negotiating impact benefit agreements.
- Representing forestry operators and resource companies in Aboriginal title litigation.
- Drafting and implementing Indigenous relations policies and strategies.
- Advising on various Aboriginal law-related matters, including the Crown’s duty to consult.
- Advising on contaminated site liabilities both on and off reserve.
- Advising on the impact of provincial water protection regimes on project development.
- Advising on trespass liability and on reserve permitting under the Indian Act.
- Advising mining industry leaders regarding a federal proposal for a national benefits sharing framework in the extractive sector.
Select Public Sector Mandates
- Representing a public government in litigation concerning an assertion of Aboriginal rights infringement and an assertion of Aboriginal title.
- Representing federal agencies in judicial review proceedings before the Federal Court.
- Advising public governments on numerous Aboriginal law-related matters, including the applicability of provincial laws on reserve lands and the Crown’s duty to consult.
- Advising provincial regulators on the scope of their authority to consider the Crown’s duty to consult in regulatory proceedings.
- Advising regional transit operators regarding the expansion of services and infrastructure on reserve.
- Advising municipal governments on aboriginal, environmental, and regulatory law related matters concerning the renewal of sewerage and water treatment infrastructure.
Select Indigenous-side Mandates
- Leading negotiation of self government agreements and modern treaties.
- Representing Indigenous governments in drafting and negotiating a self-government agreements and related policy documents.
- Representing Indigenous governments in negotiations aimed at protecting and advancing Aboriginal rights.
- Representing Indigenous governments in litigation proceedings concerning Aboriginal rights, and internal governance disputes.
- Representing Indigenous governments in judicial review proceedings before the Federal Court.
- Representing Indigenous governments negotiating impact benefit agreements for resource projects within their traditional territory.
- Advising Indigenous governments on various Aboriginal law-related matters including harvesting and land rights, negotiations with the Crown, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).
- Advising Indigenous governments on the development of membership codes and other core governance documents.
