Issue 1 2026 – Chiefs of Ontario Advocate magazine  l   15
Walker brought that perspective 
to Toronto as the opening keynote 
speaker at the Chiefs of Ontario 
(COO) Powering Up Data Sovereignty 
Conference in May. Hosted by the 
Research and Data Management Sector, 
participants shared work ranging 
from First Nations research ethics and 
community-based research to building 
servers in communities to hold informa-
tion in sovereign ways.
For Walker, the full-capacity gather-
ing’s scale showed how far the conversa-
tion has travelled. “Just the fact that 
this conference is happening, and that 
it’s as big as it is, is pretty notable,” she 
says, noting that she remembers when 
the language itself felt ambitious. “We 
weren’t even using the words ‘data sover-
eignty’ at first. People were a bit afraid to 
kind of go that far. And now we have a 
whole conference on data sovereignty.”
Walker also remembers when the 
same small circle was invited into nearly 
every conversation. “It used to be that 
whenever there was a conversation about 
data sovereignty, it was like, ‘Oh, well, 
Jen Walker is part of this international 
group that’s working on data sover-
eignty.’ So I was always invited,” she says.
That is no longer the case. “Now, it’s 
like there’s so much going on, I don’t 
even know [about all of it],” she says. 
“That’s such an exciting thing. It’s not 
just a conversation a small group of 
people are having.”
At its foundation, Walker describes 
First Nations data sovereignty as both 
authority and obligation. “For First 
Nations, data sovereignty is basically 
both a right and a responsibility,” she 
says. “First Nations have the right to 
decide how their data is stored, accessed 
and used, but also the responsibility to 
take that up and to do it in ways that 
align with our ways of knowing.”
The concept extends beyond control-
ling existing records. “The ultimate 
[goal] in [First Nations] data sovereignty 
is to have self-determination over which 
data is collected and how,” she says.
It also requires an expansive under-
standing of data itself. “The principles 
of data sovereignty and data governance 
apply to data collected by anyone – and 
not just about people, but also about 
lands and knowledges and art,” Walker 
explains. “Even the definition of what 
data means, and that all being in the 
hands of First Nations, is part of  
data sovereignty.”
First Nations have already shaped 
global conversations through the prin-
ciples of OCAP®: ownership, control, 
access and possession. “Globally, people 
look to Canada, and within Canada, 
people are looking at First Nations, 
because we’ve had those OCAP prin-
ciples since the ’90s,” Walker says.
COO has helped translate those 
principles into practice. Walker points 
to agreements aligned with OCAP that 
allow First Nations to access health infor-
mation, even where privacy rules prevent 
the data itself from being transferred 
directly to First Nations communities. 
“That whole structure has been a huge 
success and has opened lots of doors,” 
she says.
Working Toward 
An Inclusive 
Energy Future.
Stronger
Together
As the independent regulator of 
Ontario’s electricity and natural gas
sectors, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) 
is committed to engaging and building 
relationships with Indigenous
communities and enhancing Indigenous
participation in our adjudicative 
processes.
In making decisions about energy
infrastructure projects or rates, or
supporting innovation projects, we want
to ensure Indigenous communities have
an opportunity to participate.
Our approach recognizes the 
importance of Indigenous voices in 
shaping decisions and policies to ensure
equitable and just outcomes as we work 
toward an inclusive energy future.
Learn more about our commitment to engagement at:
oeb.ca/Indigenous

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