about
Deborah Corber

Deborah Corber is the principal consultant and founder of Corber Consulting. She is an experienced lawyer, negotiator and executive with a demonstrated history of excellence in Aboriginal law, strategic planning, policy making and non-profit organizational management. Deborah is creative, collaborative, consensus-oriented, with exceptional communication, leadership and problem-solving skills. She credits her training as a classical musician with her unique ability to cut through the noise and “to hear between the notes”, a skill that she believes makes her a particularly effective negotiator.

hearing between the notes

Deborah Corber has spent over 25 years providing legal, policy, strategic and negotiating services to the Canadian Government on a wide range of Aboriginal issues. Deborah’s driving imperative has always been the pursuit of forward-looking, creative and responsive strategies to advance the reconciliation of Crown and Indigenous interests.

Deborah Corber has served as Chief Federal Negotiator in self-government negotiations with the Mohawks of Akwesasne, Senior Federal Legal Counsel to tri-partite negotiations with Ontario and the Six Nations of the Grand River (Caledonia), Senior Federal Legal Counsel to tripartite negotiations with British Columbia and the B.C. First Nations Health Council, and Federal Legal Counsel to land negotiations with the Oujé-Bougoumou Cree Nation and the Government of Québec. Deborah also provided extensive advice in the areas of governance, land claims, Métis and Non-Status Indian issues, Crown-Indigenous relations and Indian Residential Schools’ dispute resolution.

Deborah participated in negotiations leading to the Charlottetown Accord, and played a key role in the development of Canada’s legal and policy approach to the negotiation of self-government with Indigenous peoples.

She was also instrumental in the negotiation of agreements with various First Nations, including a land governance agreement with the Mohawks of Kanesatake (2001). More recently, Deborah completed a mandate leading consultations for Canada with 45 Indigenous nations in British Columbia on the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project. She currently serves as Chief Federal Negotiator for self-government and land claim negotiations with the Manitoba Métis Federation.

Deborah Corber also served as Chief Executive Officer of Federation CJA (2011-17), the central philanthropic organization of Jewish Montreal, where she led the organization through six of its most galvanizing years. Under her leadership, Federation CJA became more results-oriented, inclusive, transparent and collaborative, bridging communal divides, deepening stakeholder commitment and re-positioning itself as a philanthropic leader in North America.

Deborah Corber holds a Bachelor of Music (B. Mus, Honours Performance) from McGill University, a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Columbia University School of Law, where she specialized in comparative constitutional and international human rights law.

View Deborah's resumé

In her own words

The release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report in 2015 marked a critical turning point in public awareness of Indigenous issues. Canadian governments have now adopted ambitious Reconciliation agendas, and many sectors of society are striving to contribute to Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. Yet there is so much more work to do…Reconciliation will require the sustained efforts of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from various walks of life, working diligently and in good faith across multiple platforms and in various capacities. It will require the commitment of governments, industry and organizations, to invest in a just and promising future for Indigenous peoples in Canada.  I intend to play my part, through Corber Consulting, in this historic nation building work.