David Laidlaw

Biography

David K. Laidlaw is a Research Fellow with the Canadian Institute of Resources Law. He holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Calgary in 1985, an LL.B. from Dalhousie University in 1988, and an LL.M. from the University of Calgary in 2013.

He was admitted to the Law Society of Alberta in 1989. After 20 years of private practice in Calgary, David returned to Law School to secure an LL.M. Having practised in Aboriginal law in the early 1990’s his ongoing interest in the area has led him research Canada’s law with respect to Indigenous peoples and its implications for indigenous groups and the public in Alberta and throughout Canada. In addition to Aboriginal law, his research interests include legal history and the philosophy of law.

He has with Monique Passelac-Ross completed Sharing Land Stewardship in Alberta: The Role of Aboriginal Peoples (2012) and the Alberta First Nations Consultation & Accommodation Handbook (2014). He has completed an Alberta First Nations Consultation & Accommodation Handbook – Updated to 2016, (2016), to account for the new Consultation Guidelines (2014), Alberta Energy Projects and Indigenous Accommodation (2021), and with Sara Jaremko a forthcoming Updated Federal and Alberta Legal Requirements for Consultation with Indigenous Peoples in Alberta  (2023) all funded by the Alberta Law Foundation. His ongoing research presentations have been funded by the Alberta Law Foundation, Cenovus Energy Inc., the ATCO Group and several First Nations. His other writings have focussed on water rights of Indigenous peoples, the use of Indigenous knowledge systems in the courts and other natural resource issues including the implementation of the United Nations Declaration in the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) as implemented in Canada.