Board Member
Sara Mainville has been called to the Ontario bar since 2005. Sara has a Management degree (Lethbridge) and a LL.B. (Queen’s). She has earned an LL.M (Toronto) which has engaged her in a lifetime study of Indigenous jurisdiction’s important role in legally reconciling Indigenous sovereignty in Canada. She has practiced law as a solo practitioner, and taught jurisprudence to undergraduate students, after being an Associate for a well-known Anishinaabe-led law firm in Ontario. In 2014, Sara was elected Chief of Couchiching First Nation. She returned to law in 2016 by joining Olthuis, Kleer Townshend LLP. Sara is also very proud of her participation in the negotiations that led to the creation of the First Nation Sovereign Wealth LP, a partnership of 129 First Nations in Ontario which involved 14 million Hydro One shares and $29 million in seed capital. She is greatly interested in First Nation’s inherent regulatory authority and advocating for its legitimate place in Canada.
Areas of interest: cannabis, gaming, and tobacco law, self-government and self-determination, advancing treaty relationships, and institutional development within Indigenous legal orders. Sara has been Lexpert® ranked as “Most Frequently Recommended” in Aboriginal Law since 2018, as one of the Best Lawyers in Aboriginal Law in Best Lawyers in Canada in 2021 and 2022. Sara is a partner at JFK Law LLP.