An Indigenous rights champion and a leading cannabis law practitioner have now earned another accolade for their accomplishments as leaders and catalysts. After more than 6,000 votes from legal community members were cast for 149 nominees, Canadian Lawyer magazine selected its 2019 list of the Top 25 Most Influential in the justice system and legal profession in Canada. Both these grads were named in the changemakers category of five honorees.

Here’s what Canadian Lawyer has to say about these influential Queen’s Law alumni. 

Jaimie Lickers, Law’07 

Partner and National Leader of Gowling WLG’s Indigenous Law Group

As national leader of Gowling WLG’s Indigenous Law Group, Jaimie Lickers was the first Indigenous woman admitted to the partnership and is the first Indigenous professional to hold a management position. She advances First Nations’ wealth, economic development and autonomy through her work structuring and drafting trusts for more than 25 First Nations, collectively holding assets of $1 billion. She advances First Nations’ rights through appearances at the SCC on landmark cases: Daniels v. Canada as co-counsel for the Assembly of First Nations on the question of whether Métis and non-status Indians are “Indians” under the Constitution, Clyde River and Chippewas of the Thames v. Enbridge as co-counsel for the Chiefs of Ontario on the question of the adequacy of consultation in relation to a pipeline development. Lickers fought for the rights of non-status Indians who applied for membership in Canada’s newest First Nation, the Qalipu Mi’kmaq Band, through judicial review applications challenging the enrollment process and in Foster and Howse v. The Queen, which challenged 6,000 decisions to deny membership based on technical irregularities.

Trina Fraser, Law’97 (Com’94)

Partner and Head of CannaLaw group, Brazeau Seller LLP

More than five years ago, Trina Fraser formed and now leads BSL’s CannaLaw group. Since then, her advocacy has had a significant impact upon the development and implementation of cannabis legalization in Canada. Fraser represents licensed cannabis cultivators, processors, medical sellers, adult-use retailers and ancillary cannabis industry service providers. She currently sits on the board of directors of Canadians for Fair Access to Medical Marijuana, which advocates for improved patient access to medical cannabis, as well as Ottawa-based children’s charity The Snowsuit Fund. In the fall of 2017, Fraser was invited to provide testimony to the Standing Committee on Health on Bill C45. In her testimony, she argued that in order to achieve the legislative objective of displacing the illicit market, Canada’s legal cannabis framework would have to permit participation by non-violent individuals who previously participated in the illicit market.

Both honorees have recently received other recognition and been featured prominently in their alma mater’s alumni magazine, Queen’s Law Reports.

Jaimie Lickers has been named a leading practitioner in Indigenous law by Lexpert (2018), received a Lexpert Zenith Award in 2017 and has been listed in Benchmark Litigation’s “Under 40 Hot List” (2017, 2018 and 2019). Read her alumni profile, “21st-Century gantowisa a repeat winner at SCC,” in Queen’s Law Reports 2018.  

Trina Fraser is ranked a “Band 1” lawyer in cannabis law by Chambers Canada (2019) and was named Attorney of the Year at the 2019 O’Cannabiz Industry Awards Gala. For the past two years, she has shared her expert opinion on the practice area in Queen’s Law Reports. Read “Cannabis: Checking in, checking it out” (2019) and “Legalizing and Regulating Marijuana” (2018).