I do this work because relationships determine outcomes.

Man in a snowy landscape wearing a parka with a fur-lined hood, smiling at the camera.

About me

I'm Matthew Parent, founder of Earth Resolve Solutions and a Q.Med (Qualified Mediator). My practice sits at the intersection of environmental conflict, Indigenous governance, and public policy, with a particular focus on the contexts where urgency and complexity collide: climate action, water governance, biodiversity, conservation, and clean energy.

Over the past decade I've worked alongside Indigenous governments, public institutions, and mission driven organizations on the processes that make hard things possible. I’ve facilitated dialogue across jurisdictions. Governance design for climate action plans. Multi-party conflict navigation in contested resource and land-use decisions. That work has taken me to Nunavut and across the circumpolar Arctic, to Colombia, and into policy processes at the national and international level.

Selected mandates

  • Lead Advisor & Author, Nunavut Inuit Climate Action Plan — territory-wide design & facilitation (Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., NTI).

  • Circumpolar Inuit & Canadian Indigenous Climate Action Strategy Implementation Process Review (NTI)

  • Governance Architect, Nunavut Climate Governance Regime (NTI)

  • Author, Inuit Climate Leadership Agenda & Inuit Climate Advocacy Toolkit (Inuit Circumpolar Council of Canada, ICC)

  • Advisor, Inuit Climate Action Partnership (ICC)

  • Policy Advisor, Canada Water Act Amendments (Makivvik Corporation)

  • Facilitator, Contaminated Sites Working Group (Government of Nunavut)

  • Advisor, Nunavut Water Strategy & Transboundary Water Management (Government of Nunavut)

  • Lead Researcher, Nunavut Energy Landscape Analysis (NTI)

Close-up view of multiple solar panels installed on a rooftop, reflecting sunlight.

What I Value

  • Pluripartiality: I don't pretend to be a blank slate. I bring genuine care for every party at the table (their interests, their history, what they're actually up against) without losing sight of the process or the desired outcome. That's what I mean by pluripartial, and it's what makes the work honest.

  • Cooperation over conflict: Most of what I do is about building the conditions where disputes don't derail important work. The goal is always a durable cooperation that goes along with the signed agreement or project launch.

  • Relationships as infrastructure: Strategies only succeed when the relationships underneath can hold the weight. I pay as much attention to how people are working together as to what they're deciding.

  • Outcomes that are actually implemented: I work to make sure the people who have to live with a decision had a real hand in shaping it so that implementation sticks and works.

  • Conflict navigation is a precondition: By the time most people call a mediator, a lot has already been lost… time, trust, momentum. The most effective conflict work happens earlier by identifying where tensions are likely to surface, designing processes that can hold them, and building the relational conditions that keep disagreements from becoming crises. I work at both ends. The upstream prevention and active navigation when things do break down. The goal is always that your project, strategy, or initiative actually succeeds.

Snow-covered landscape with distant mountains under a pastel pink and blue sky.

Your Questions, Answered

  • I work across five areas: conflict navigation and mediation, multi-party facilitation, governance advisory, community engagement, and social impact assessments. In practice, most mandates draw on more than one - a governance engagement usually involves facilitation; a conflict process often requires some strategy work. The entry point depends on where you are and what you're navigating. If you're not sure which applies to your situation, just reach out and we'll figure it out together.

  • Send me a message through the contact form. Tell me a bit about what you're working on - the context, who's involved, and what's making it hard. I don't need a polished brief. A few sentences is enough to have a first conversation.

  • A few things. I practice from the stance of pluripartiality: I hold genuine care for every party in a process, not a detached neutrality that keeps me at arm's length from what actually matters. I also come to this work with deep experience in Indigenous governance and environmental contexts, which means I understand the specific pressures, histories, and dynamics that show up in those rooms. And because I work as a sole practitioner, you're getting my full, undivided attention, and not a junior associate from a big firm - on every engagement.

  • I work on a project basis, with fees scoped to the mandate. I don't publish standard rates because the right scope depends on the context — group size, number of sessions, complexity, and whether travel is involved all factor in. Once I understand what you're navigating, I can put together a clear proposal. Reach out and we'll have that conversation.

  • Direct, prepared, and genuinely invested in the outcome. I show up having done my homework on the context, the parties, and what's at stake. I ask hard questions when they're needed and I don't disappear between sessions. My clients tend to say the work feels both rigorous and human (and fun) - which is the balance I'm always aiming for.

Stacked rocks in the foreground near a lake with trees and a partly cloudy sky in the background.

Land Acknowledgement

Earth Resolve Solutions operates across Canada, on the traditional territories of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. I work on these lands that have been cared for since time immemorial. I hold this not as a formality, but as a responsibility that shapes how I enter and conduct every mandate.
I am committed to walking alongside Indigenous communities with humility, respect, and a deep belief in self-determination, while grounding my work in relationships, listening, and support for solutions led by Indigenous Peoples.