DONALD E. WORME, K.C., I.P.C.
he/him
Senior Partner

Donald E. Worme, a Cree lawyer from the Kawacatoose First Nation, Treaty Four, Saskatchewan, is one of the leading advocates in the province for human rights, criminal law and treaty litigation.

Mr Worme graduated with his Bachelor of Laws in 1985 from the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan. He articled with the Federal Department of Justice in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, prosecuting federal offences and received his call to the bar in 1986. He continues to practice law at Semaganis Worme in Saskatoon as well as through his national affiliation with the Indigenous Law Group, who has offices in Ontario and British Columbia.

Mr Worme is a founding member of the Indigenous Bar Association of Canada, a national advocacy group comprising Indigenous lawyers, judges and law students, where he served as president from 1990 to 1992. Mr Worme has also been a vocal member of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal since 2001.

Mr Worme has served on several Judicial Commissions of Inquiry in various capacities including:

• representing Sandra Paquachon in the 1995 Commission of Inquiry into Certain Events at The Prison For Women in Kingston, Ontario;
• acting as lead counsel to the family of Neil Stonechild in the 2002 Judicial Inquiry into the Saskatoon Police Service’s involvement with the teen’s freezing death in Saskatchewan;
• acting as Commission Counsel during the 2004 Ipperwash Judicial Inquiry in Ontario, which looked into the killing of the unarmed Indigenous land protester Dudley George;
• acting on behalf of the Assembly of First Nations in the 2009 Oppal Commission in Vancouver, British Columbia, which examined the critical issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; and
• serving as Lead Commission Counsel for the 2010 Truth & Reconciliation Commission, which over its six-year mandate examined the 150-year legacy of the Indian Residential School experience in Canada and its devastating aftermath.

As part of the 100^th anniversary of the University of Saskatchewan, Mr Worme was included in the list of the university’s Top 100 Alumni of Influence. In 2010 he was awarded a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for his longstanding commitment to Aboriginal justice in Canada.

Mr Worme is involved in the historic Robinson Treaties litigation taking place in Ontario, which seeks to compel the Crown to live up to the treaty promises and to renew the treaty relationship between the Lake Huron treaty signatories and the federal and provincial governments.

Consistently named as a Lexpert-ranked lawyer for his work in Indigenous law in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Mr Worme received his Queen’s Counsel appointment in 2002 and his Indigenous People’s Counsel designation in 2006 in recognition of his service to Indigenous peoples and the Creator. (Lexpert® is Canada’s leading source of news and information about the business of law.)

Education and professional affiliations:

King’s Counsel designation, 2002

Indigenous People’s Council, 2006

Indigenous Bar Association of Canada, Founding Member, 1988

Law Society of Saskatchewan, 1986

University of Saskatchewan, LL.B., 1985

Helen G. Semaganis, K.C., I.P.C.
she/her
Managing Partner

Helen G. Semaganis is a member of the Poundmaker Cree Nation in the province of Saskatchewan. She is the proud mother of five children and is an avid long-distance runner. She is a member in good standing with the Law Society of Saskatchewan, and has held this standing since September 1996. Her law practice is focused on family, child welfare, wills & estates and employment law, with an emphasis on service to First Nations individuals and organizations. She has eight years of experience as an Adjudicator. She is grounded in the oral history of Treaty Six and the knowledge of her traditional Cree culture. She has been the managing partner of the law firm Semaganis Worme for approximately 15 years.

Experience:

• 2009–2016: Full-time adjudicator with the Independent Assessment Process, Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. General Counsel on matters involving child welfare, family, employment and estates law.
• 2007–2009: Legal Counsel representing Claimants in the Alternative Dispute Resolution IRS Claims Process; she settled approximately 50 individual claims and one group of 60 claims.
• 1996–2009: Full-time legal practice in the areas of Child Welfare, Family Law, Wills, Estates and Employment Law.
• 1998–2000: Lead Negotiator, Treaty Governance Process, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
• 1996–1997: National Researcher on Indian child welfare legislation and policy, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
• Director of Operations & Personnel, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.

Community Involvement: 

In addition to practicing law full time over the past 22 years, Ms Semaganis has remained active in her community and has committed her time to the following accomplishments:

• 2014–2017: Member of National Advisory Committee, Centre of Excellence for Matrimonial Real Property on Reserves
• 2013–2014: Supervising Lawyer on two projects dealing with First Nations Child Welfare issues, Pro Bono Students Canada
• 2010–2011: National Advisory Committee Member, Native Women’s Association of Canada, Pathways to Reconciliation Project
• 1996–2005: Member of the Board of Directors of Indigenous Bar Association of Canada.
• 1996–2003: Past President and Board Member of the E. Fry Society, Saskatoon
• 1998–2000: Member of the Board of Directors of United Way, Saskatoon
• 1997–1999: Member of the Medical Ethics Committee, Saskatoon District Health Board

Publications:

“First Thoughts on First Nations Citizenship”, Co-authored in Yvonne M. Hebert (ed.), Citizenship in Transformation in Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2002

Education and professional affiliations:

King’s Counsel designation, 2020

Indigenous Peoples Council, 2020

Indigenous Bar Association of Canada, 1996

Law Society of Saskatchewan, 1996

University of Saskatchewan, LL.B., 1995

University of Saskatchewan, B.A., 1993

Mark Ebert, M.A., Ph.D., LL.M., J.D.
he/him
Associate

Mark Ebert has been working with Indigenous peoples for 20 years during his time as an anthropologist and now as a lawyer. He has had the good fortune of working with some of the top minds in the two fields, both in and out of academia. He is an award-winning professor, grant recipient, a published author, and has presented his work internationally. He is also the first individual to directly enter the LLM program at the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Law. His LLM thesis focused on developing a trans-systemic framework for Aboriginal rights. Mark has also run his own consulting business and was a Visiting Scholar at the Wiyasiwewin Mikiwahp Native Law Centre.

Mr Ebert was called to the Saskatchewan Bar in December 2018. His primary interests in his practice are Aboriginal and Treaty rights, the environment and land, and he enjoys a variety of other topics.

Education and Professional Affiliations:

Law Society of Saskatchewan, 2019

University of British Columbia, Juris Doctor (specialization in Aboriginal Law), 2017

University of Saskatchewan, LLM, 2013

University of Aberdeen, PhD, 2006

University of Alberta, MA, 2001

University of Saskatchewan, BA (Honours), 1999

Rheana E. Worme, B. Comm., J.D.
she/her
Associate

Rheana Worme is an Associate at Semaganis Worme. She is a proud member of Kawacatoose First Nation. She graduated from Edwards School of Business with a Commerce degree in marketing in 2017 and received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Saskatchewans’ College of Law in 2020. As a law student, Ms Worme demonstrated a keen interest in Aboriginal law, partaking in the Kawaskimhon National Aboriginal Moot (court) in 2019. Rheana also completed an intensive clinical law program at Community Legal Assistance Services for Saskatoon Inner City Inc. (CLASSIC) in 2020, which gave her the opportunity to work in a community-driven, client-centred poverty law clinic for one semester. Throughout her time as a student, Ms Worme also demonstrated strong leadership skills, serving as the Indigenous Law Students’ Association (ILSA) President for two years. During her tenure, she oversaw new fundraising and networking events for ILSA, launched the student bodies’ revised logo, as well as facilitated multiple donations to Indigenous communities affected by Covid-19. Of Ms Worme’s favourite student events was when she facilitated a meeting between the ILSA student body and the Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould in 2018. She also served as co-chair at the Indigenous Bar Associations’ annual conference, hosted in Saskatoon in 2018.

Ms Worme also served as the program leader for the Indigenous Youth Outreach Program of LEVEL Justice for three years. In that role, she organized volunteers, law students, and lawyers to teach a grade 6/7 classroom in Saskatoon’s inner-city about the law. She prepared the young students to run their own mock trial, providing them with an opportunity to interact with and better understand the justice system. Because of her outstanding community involvement, the College of Law nominated Ms Worme for the Ted and Helen Hughes Prize for Excellence, awarded for academic achievement and involvement with Indigenous children and youth in the law in 2019.

Areas of Practice:

• Residential Real Estate
• Criminal Law
• Non-Profit and Corporate Law
• Mediation

Education and Professional Affiliations:

Law Society of Saskatchewan, 2020

Canadian Bar Association, 2020

Indigenous Bar Association, 2017

University of Saskatchewan, Juris Doctor, 2020

University of Saskatchewan, Bachelor of Commerce, 2017