HW Roger "Roger" Townshend

Roger Townshend, a founding partner of OKT, is now a senior counsel to the firm. He practices Aboriginal, Constitutional, human rights, and administrative law, with particular stress on land claims litigation. He has a B.Sc (Hons.) in Mathematics. He has appeared in Court and advised on numerous cases relating to Aboriginal law claims including claims related to Aboriginal title and other Aboriginal rights and treaty rights, and duty to consult and accommodate cases. His court work has also included challenging the legality of municipal By-laws, the legality of environmental assessment decisions, the constitutionality of the Ontario educational funding regime, and the legality of drug testing programs in the workplace.

Roger has appeared in the Courts of Appeal of Ontario, British Columbia and Newfoundland, the Federal Court of Appeal, and in the Supreme Court of Canada. He has provided commentary on a variety of proposed federal and provincial legislation such as the Fisheries Act, and the Limitations Act of Ontario. Prior to law school, Roger worked in the area of land claims research and negotiations for eight years on behalf of Manitoba First Nations. He has been active on the executives of the Aboriginal Law Section and the Administrative Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association (Ontario). He has authored about 40 publications, including journalistic articles, poetry, and scholarly articles about Aboriginal history, Canadian government policy, and law.