• EVoaklander@jfklaw.ca
• P 647-925-9429
• Legal Assistant Natila Kabir 647-925-5351 nkabir@jfklaw.ca
• 1100-65 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5H 2M5

Erika is an Associate at the Toronto JFK office. She is Métis and her family hails from Red River. Erika grew up in Alberta and is a citizen of the Otipemisiwak Métis Government. She holds a Juris Doctor and a Certificate in Aboriginal Legal Studies from the University of Toronto. Erika also holds a Certificate in Negotiation from Osgoode Hall Law School.

Prior to being called to the Ontario bar, Erika summered and articled at a leading national Toronto law firm where she focused on a broad range of commercial litigation matters. Since then, Erika has exclusively worked in the area of Aboriginal law representing Indigenous communities, both at a nationally recognized Aboriginal law boutique firm and a full-service law firm in Toronto, prior to joining JFK.

Erika has experience advising Indigenous communities, governments and nations on Aboriginal and treaty rights-related matters, including advancing their visions of self-determination through the negotiation and implementation of self-government agreements and modern-day treaties. She has also advised clients on the duty to consult and accommodate, partnerships between industry and Indigenous peoples, environmental stewardship, and opportunities for Indigenous peoples to help advance their economic prosperity goals. She has worked on negotiating innovative relationship and economic reconciliation agreements, including impact benefit agreements and other accommodation arrangements that recognize and respect Indigenous rights across traditional territories.

At law school, Erika was Co-President of the Indigenous Law Students’ Association and Out in Law. She received the Dean’s Leadership Award and the Gordon Cressy Award for her contributions to student life at the faculty. Prior to law school, Erika earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with a Certificate in Indigenous Governance from the University of Alberta.

Outside of law, Erika is a Board Member of the 519, a City of Toronto Agency that promotes the full participation of the 2SLGBTQ+ communities in Toronto and beyond. In her free time, Erika can be found working on her novice beadwork skills, taking her golden retriever Gus around Toronto, soothing herself with The Office reruns, and laughing at her partner’s jokes.