Paul Prosper is a Mi’kmaq lawyer with more than 25 years of experience in Indigenous legal issues ranging from project management, to First Nation land use and occupation, to governance and community development.
A lifelong advocate for the rights of the Mi’kmaq people, Mr. Prosper is the former Chief of the Paqtnkek (Afton) Mi’kmaw Nation. In 2020, he was elected Assembly of First Nations’ (AFN) Regional Chief for Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, representing the collective interests of 17 Mi’kmaw First Nations in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia and over 600 First Nations across Canada.
Mr. Prosper has served on several boards and committees, including the boards of the Atlantic Policy Congress of First Nations Chiefs Secretariat, the Atlantic First Nations Water Authority, and Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey as well as the Eastern Door L’nuk Lawyers Group, Ta’n Etli-tpi’tmk Association, and the AFN Chiefs Committee on Child and Family Services. From 2010 to 2013, he taught Mi’kmaq governance and Aboriginal and treaty rights at Cape Breton University.
In 2020, Mr. Prosper was inducted as a member of the Bertha Wilson Honour Society at the Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law in recognition of his exceptional service to the legal profession and community. He was also named Wika’paltultimk (Counsellor) for the L’nuk People by the Eastern Door L’nuk Lawyers Group in recognition of his outstanding service to Indigenous Peoples in the legal profession.
Mr. Prosper holds a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Cape Breton University.