Circle of Experts

Members

The Circle of Experts served from 2022 to 2024 as a sub-committee of the Indigenous Advisory Committee. It included First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals, as well as experts recommended by Indigenous individuals and organizations. Please read the Terms of Reference for more information.

The Circle of Experts was established to co-develop a discussion paper with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) about Indigenous Impact Assessment Co-Administration Agreements. Published in July 2024, the paper outlined the issues and considerations for potential approaches to Indigenous co-administration agreements. During the national engagement period that followed, the discussion paper opened conversations with Indigenous rights-holders and others about the development of Indigenous Impact Assessment Co-Administration Agreement Regulations under the Impact Assessment Act.

With the completion of its mandate, IAAC formally acknowledges and expresses deep appreciation for the outstanding contributions of the Circle of Experts in the co-development of the discussion paper.

Taiaiake Alfred

Taiaiake Alfred is a Kahnawà:ke Mohawk philosopher and governance consultant. He has a degree in history from Concordia University and a Ph.D. in political science from Cornell University and has been advising First Nations governments and organizations for over three decades. Taiaiake is a National Aboriginal Achievement/Indspire laureate and the author of four acclaimed books on Indigenous governance.

Walter Andreeff

Walter Andreeff (he, him) lives in Métis Nation of Alberta (MNA) Region 5 Slave Lake. He has knowledge and experience in Indigenous-led land use assessments, familiarity with Métis Nation governance, and direct knowledge of best practices for Indigenous participation, collaboration, and partnership in environmental/impact assessments. Walter has a science degree in Environmental Geology and has worked with Alberta and British Columbia Indigenous communities over the past 20 years. He is a recognized member of the MNA community and a harvester and hunter. He currently works for Region 5 as the Consultation Coordinator and in the past worked in the oil and gas industry for 10 years in several roles liaising with communities. He possesses expertise in Indigenous Métis rights, its intersection with major projects and its relationship to the operation of the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. He is looking forward to serving the Métis nation in his professional capacity and working with other members of the Indigenous Circle of Experts.

Aaron Bruce (Kelts'tkinem)

Aaron is a member of the Squamish Nation and has been practicing law since 2004 including as a partner at one of the leading aboriginal law firms in Canada. He has recently started his own law firm, Aaron Bruce Law, continuing to represent Indigenous Nations regarding aboriginal rights & title, natural resource law, and Indigenous jurisdictional and governance issues. He has represented First Nations in litigation, regulatory hearings, and negotiations with other levels of government and industry.

Gordon Grey

Gordon Grey is a member of Pilick the Wolastoqey community of Kingsclear. He has a western science degree from the University of British Columbia in earth ocean and atmospheric science. His Grandfather is Samaqan Wimpie Charles Solomon, a medicine man. He spent most of his youth on the land, gathering berries, apples, butternuts and other edibles, medicine picking, and harvesting and preparing ash for basketry, also fishing and hunting. It is for this reason that Gordon recognizes the importance of protecting Wolastoqey and Indigenous ways of life and continuing the connection to the land and non-human relations.

Gordon works for the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick (WNNB) as the Impact Assessment Manager. He reviews Federal and Provincial Impact Assessments and translates the implication to environment to potential impacts to Aboriginal and Treaty rights. He also aids with Indigenous Land Use studies, and engages with the communities that WNNB represents.

Nalaine Morin

Nalaine Morin is a nationally recognized professional who has managed environmental reviews of several large resource development projects on behalf of Indigenous Nations. She has extensive technical experience in both mining and environmental assessment processes, and she is well known for her work to build positive relationships that recognize the role of Indigenous Nations in decision making on Indigenous Lands. Nalaine provides services in third party technical reviews, regulatory application reviews, impact benefit agreement negotiations, community engagement and natural resource management.

Nalaine holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree from the University of British Columbia and a Mechanical Engineering Technology Diploma from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. She currently resides in Smithers, British Columbia.

She has been recognized for her leadership as recipient of the 2021 Skookum Jim Award, 2018 Indigenous Trailblazer Award, and the 2018 Aura Award. Nalaine is also a board member of both BC Hydro and Geoscience BC.

Stanley Oliver

Stanley Oliver is an Inuit hunter, fisher and outdoorsman in Labrador. Raised in a family of eleven children, Stan’s father is from Labrador’s North Coast (Rigolet) and his mother is from North West River. He has worked in the Labrador and Atlantic region in the Natural Resources field/industry for over 25 years and is currently the Fisheries and Oceans Coordinator with the Nunatukavut Community Council. He has occupied several senior management and leadership positions with the Nunatsiavut government and the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat. Stan has a Diploma from Memorial University as a Resource Technician, is a Certified Engineering Technician with the Newfoundland Association of Engineers, and several certificates in Aboriginal governance and administration. His broad education, work experience and local knowledge have made him adaptable to complex working environments. His philosophy is to create free, detail-oriented work environments focused on positive collaborative partnerships with government and business without losing sight of grass roots concerns.

Marci Riel

Marci Riel is the Senior Director of Energy, Infrastructure and Resource Management at the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), the government of the Red River Métis. The department was created to address the development and management of energy projects and infrastructure constructed on lands utilized by our citizens and harvesters across our National Homeland. The department also manages the MMF's Resolution 8 engagement and consultation process, lands management files and natural resources and conservation portfolios related to harvesting, environmental assessment, Métis monitoring, forestry, mining, migratory birds, commercial fisheries, wetland restoration, fish and fish habitat, environment and climate change.

Marci is the Indigenous Co-Chair of the Line 3 - Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee (L3IAMC), the Red River Métis representative on the Canada Energy Regulator's Indigenous Advisory Committee and is currently working with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the International Joint Commission (IJC) to create and implement an Indigenous Advisory Committee. Her role is to best represent the needs of Red River Métis citizens and to assist Canada and regulators in better understanding the lifecycle impacts of projects on the collectively held rights, claims and interests of the Red River Métis.

Ms. Riel holds a Masters Degree in Sociology and previously worked in the field of public safety and crime prevention. Marci is the mother of two teenage boys - Joshua and Thomas - and together with her husband Kevin is proud to be raising the next generation of Red River Métis citizens. Marci lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the heart of the National Homeland, on one of the original Red River lots next to the historic Riel House site.

Pailin Chua-oon Rinfret

Pailin Chua-oon Rinfret has been the Director of the Eeyou Marine Region Impact Review Board for the past four years and is responsible for the environmental and socio-economic Impact Assessment of all proposed projects in the Eeyou Marine Region. Prior to this, her research at the University of Otago in New Zealand investigated the quality of Cultural Impact Assessment (CIA) reports and the differences in practice between CIA in Indigenous communities and other forms of Impact Assessment. This research was recently published in a peer-reviewed academic journal by New Zealand's Indigenous Centre of Research Excellence (AlterNative, 2022). Ms. Chua-oon Rinfret is dedicating her career to improving the field of Impact Assessment by adapting it to better enable Indigenous people to participate and to adequately consider Indigenous values, needs, perspectives, and aspirations. She has also performed socio-economic Impact Assessments in Laos and has worked on several public health projects in Madagascar.