Wayne D. Garnons-Williams, B.A., J.D., MPA, LL.M.
President, International Intertribal Trade and Investment Organization
Biography
Chair – International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization
Principal Director, Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd.
Senior Lawyer and Principal Director Garwill Law Professional Corporation
Wayne is from the Moosomin First Nation and got his bachelor’s degree in law from Queens University, a Master of Public Administration from Dalhousie University and his Master of Laws with a specialty of Indigenous International Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Wayne’s Master of Law Research thesis was an exploration of the legal history, law and policy of Indigenous trade between Canada and the United States.
Wayne is the CEO of the not-for-profit registered charity, the National Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation of Canada. Wayne is also the Senior Lawyer and Principal Director of the law firm Garwill Law Professional Corporation. Further, he leads an international business entitled Indigenous Sovereign Trade Consultancy Ltd. and is the founding President of the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization.
He is past board secretary of the Council of the Great Lakes Region, past Chair of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Appeal Tribunal, past Chair of the National Council of Federal Aboriginal Employees and is currently on the board of directors of the International Law Association – Canada Chapter and is one of the founding members of the Government of Canada, Global Affairs Working Group on Indigenous International Trade. Wayne was instrumental in advising on the development of Canada’s Indigenous trade policy which led to progress for Indigenous trade in CUSMA/ USMCA as well as being appointed lead Indigenous Canadian negotiator for the Indigenous Peoples Economic Trade and Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA).
He is also a Research Fellow specializing in International Comparative Indigenous law at the University of Oklahoma, College of Law as well as a Senior Legal Fellow for the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. He was appointed by Order in Council as a member to the NAFTA Chapter 19 Trade Remedies roster and then appointed in 2020 as a CUSMA Advisory Committee Member on Private Commercial Disputes, Article 31.22.
He is the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business 2019 award winner for Excellence in Aboriginal Relations, the 2020 Queen’s University Alumni Award winner, the recipient of the 2020 International Legal Specialist in Peace, Justice and Governance Award from the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the 2024 Canada-United States Law Institute recipient of the Sidney J. Picker Award for contributing to the development of Canada-US relations, the 2024 H.R.S. Ryan Law Alumni Award of Distinction in recognition for outstanding contributions to the faculty, university, and legal profession, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law and the 2024 Oklahoma Supreme Court Sovereignty Symposium medallion for outstanding contributions in furthering Indigenous legal issues.