Canadian Lawyer InHouse

43 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 members with issues," he says. Like many First Nations right now, Sawridge is considering the opportunities around cannabis businesses since legaliza- tion of the product for recreational purpos- es came into force in October. "Our corporate side is involved as an investor in some retail operations [not on reserve]. Our primary focus for our corpo- rations is mainstream businesses and not strictly focused on reserves. We do have some businesses on reserve but also have a diversifi ed portfolio of investments and to be close to markets and have a viable busi- ness you have to be in the right location," he says. McKinney acknowledges the issue of cannabis regulation is a controversial one when it comes to the role of First Nations — or the lack of it — in developing policy on the federal level. "It is one area where there has been very little consultation by any government with First Nations that I'm aware of," he says. "I have recently learned there is a First Nation in Saskatchewan that is opening their own cannabis store and passed their own law." In mid-November, the Muscowpe- tung Saulteaux First Nation near Fort Qu'Appelle announced the opening of the Mino-Maskihki Cannabis Dispensary after the band's chief and council, along with its Elders Council and membership, passed the Muscowpetung First Nation Cannabis Act. "It tends to be an issue that people at the First Nation could be on either side of," says McKinney. "You have people very sup- portive of the industry and other people are concerned about the consequences of the industry the same way they would have con- cerns about alcohol or gambling or other businesses that might cause social problems or attract people that might cause problems. There are those kinds of concerns that come up from some people and then there are others who feel it would be a great con- venience to have that kind of business." Another First Nations community in Al- berta also passed a smoking law and many First Nations, including Sawridge, have passed their own laws, which essentially created a different legal structure for smok- ing on First Nation or reserve lands than what was elsewhere in the province. "The Enoch [Cree] First Nation has a ca- sino you can smoke in, but you can't smoke in those that are not on reserve land. The same situation could arise with cannabis but hasn't been tested yet. We haven't explored that," he says. Sawridge also just signed a memorandum of understanding in November with the fed- eral government to get further recognition for self-determination of the First Nation. "That's one of our big projects we're working on right now," he says. The co-developed memorandum of understanding commits the parties to working together to help advance the First Nations' visions of self-determination for the benefi t of their communities. The memorandum of understanding sets out the process and topics for discussions between the parties with a focus on self-government. The vision of the chief who was in place when McKinney started was that the First Nation should create opportunities for its people to have jobs and make sure they have education and opportunity to get those jobs. "Rather than give handouts to people and distribute money, he tried to ensure they had the opportunity to work and get an education and other training opportunities. For the most part, Sawridge members are educated and pretty well employed. It's very close to a town and there is employment in that town," he says. While Sawridge does fairly well from a standard of living perspective, McKinney notes that all of the First Nations are under- funded for housing and infrastructure. "There isn't enough money to take care of all that — that's an unfortunate reality everybody has to live with," he says. The reality is the number of First Na- tions people in Canada has grown dramati- cally in the last 30 years and the funding has not. For most First Nations, the funding is frozen at a level it was at in the 1990s with a less than two per cent increase per year for infl ation but nothing for the increase in people. "So, it's like taking the same pie and dividing it smaller and smaller and it's chal- lenging for First Nations," he says. As the 2018-2019 chairman of the almost 5,000-member Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, McKinney sees his challenge for the next year being one of stimulating inter- est in membership renewal and keeping the appeal of the organization alive. "We do have growing competition, but the CCCA is the only national in-house lawyer organization in Canada and we be- lieve we provide great value to our members and to the CBA," he says. While the CCCA national conference will be in Toronto again April 7 to 10, he says the plan is to move it outside Ontario in 2020. "With the restructuring of the CBA, the CCCA is becoming more like a branch — a little more independent but a strong part of the CBA, he says. "We are trying to offer more collabora- tive and online programs and we're looking at how to make it applicable across the coun- try. Our largest deliverable is at the branch level. For most of our members, their con- tact with the CCCA is at their branch where they go to their section meetings. We'd like to offer additional national offerings for professional development," he says. IH P r o f e s s i o n a l P r o f i l e SECOND SNAPSHOT T H E L A W Y E R Michael McKinney Executive director and general counsel T H E C O M P A N Y Sawridge Group of Companies and Sawridge First Nation • 2018-2019 chairman of the Canadian Association of Corporate Counsel • Called to the bar in 1987 • B.Comm and LLB from University of Alberta • Executive director and general counsel at Sawridge First Nation and Sawridge Group of Companies since 1988

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