Marie-Christine Gagnon

Marie-Christine Gagnon is a bilingual partner in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office. She is a member of the Advocacy group and her practice focuses on Indigenous law. A member of the Innu First Nation of Pessamit, Marie-Christine advises clients in negotiations and in litigation involving Aboriginal and treaty rights, the duty to consult and accommodate, territorial overlaps, the valorization of ancestral territory, the socio-economic development of First Nations and the establishment of business partnerships. She also advises band councils, businesses and Indigenous organizations on matters relating to their constitution or governance. Marie-Christine has particular experience with respect to: the application of the Indian Act, including the reserve land system; the drafting of membership codes, various types of agreements relating to the occupation of a parcel of reserve land, custom electoral codes and by-laws made under the Indian Act; the application of provincial legislation on reserve land; the taking of security on assets located on a reserve and the rules relating to taxation. She is also skilled in the application of federal legislation relating to Indigenous people and their lands as well as in the application of various land claims agreements concluded across Canada.