Power Struggle
Improving the energy dialogue in Canada (and beyond) through honest, non-partisan, and fact- based conversations.
The energy conversation is personal: it’s in our homes, in our hands, and now, it’s in our ears. Power Struggle invites you to listen in on honest, non-partisan, and fact-based conversations between host Stewart Muir and the leaders and thinkers designing modern energy.
Watch videos at https://www.youtube.com/@PowerStrugglePod
Power Struggle
From Crisis to Leadership: How Crystal Smith Rewrote the Future for Her Nation
Crystal Smith, former Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation, joins Power Struggle to share how her community turned a legacy of exclusion into one of empowerment by leading one of Canada’s most ambitious Indigenous-owned energy projects, Cedar LNG.
In this powerful conversation with Stewart Muir, Smith reflects not only on the business and policy decisions behind Cedar LNG, but also on the personal journey that shaped her leadership, from confronting intergenerational trauma to building confidence in the face of skepticism.
They discuss:
- What meaningful economic reconciliation looks like
- Why First Nations must lead resource development
- How the Haisla Nation took control of its future
- And what it takes to inspire the next generation of Indigenous leaders
Crystal Smith is one of the most influential Indigenous voices in Canada which makes this episode essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand what real progress looks like.
The energy conversation is polarizing. But the reality is multidimensional. Get the full story with host Stewart Muir.
Reach out to us with thoughts, questions, or ideas at info@powerstruggle.ca
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It is that decision of wanting better. It's it's the decision of not wanting to manage poverty anymore. It's it's the decision of finding hope and and finding opportunity for your people to thrive and and to succeed in this life.
SPEAKER_01:I'm Stuart Muir. Today at Power Struggle, our guest has been Crystal Smith. She served as the elected Chief Counselor of the Heisla Nation located on the northwest coast of British Columbia. And we've been talking about the development of the nation, the opportunities that she and her leadership have brought to her people. And we've also heard some incredible stories from her past and people. It's been a real privilege to have Crystal here today. Crystal, thanks for gracing our studio. In the fall of 2014, visited your ancestral village, the Hysla Nation, the Kidamat village in northwestern British Columbia. I didn't realize it then, but it was the start of a incredible journey in my life over the last almost a dozen years. And now, after all that you've done, you know, the biggest private sector capital project in Canadian history in your traditional territory of the Hysla people, you are the leader who also initiated an incredible entrepreneurial Odyssey that your nation has embarked on with their own LNG plant. It's mind-blowing what you're doing there. And I've had the privilege to look into it at different times. But now in repose, I think you can maybe take a moment to reflect on, you know, how we got here because this year, earlier this year, it's 2025, you saw the first shipment of LNG from Kitamat, a historic occasion. It was really remarkable. So I feel greatly privileged to be here. And I'd like to ask you uh to share your story.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, thank you for for having me. Yeah. Now, the the former chief counselor of of the Hazan Nation, so I've been uh out of out of office for for a few months. And just within that time span, I mean, you know, as the chief counselor, you're you're constantly on and you're constantly thinking about, you know, you you have about 10 fires in front of you that you're you're constantly trying to figure out how to put them out. And you don't only have the external um responsibilities in terms of the proponent-based audience or or supporters or or people that you're constantly in contact with, but you have membership that at home that you have to focus on as well. So the last three months, two or three months, that I've I've honestly had the time to kind of uh settle down, I guess, a bit from it. Uh, and when I hear the story and when I hear people talk about what has been accomplished in our territory, it is absolutely phenomenal that, you know, I I was I was fortunate to be there from the beginning of the concept of Cedar to see it to to fruition to a final investment decision. I I go home every once in a while and I get to see the construction happening. Um but I was to to kind of back up, I I was actually the executive assistant to the first female chief counselor of the Heisla Nation, uh, Dolores Pollard, in 2009. And that's essentially where the time started on the clock for me to be sitting around our leadership table, listening to their conversations, listening to the different dynamics of the struggles that that our community endured. Um, you know, at the time they were negotiating the uh impact benefit agreement for the modernization of the aluminum smelter with Rio Tinto. Uh, so a lot of community engagement and community involvement um around a referendum to be able to support that signing of that impact benefit agreement. Um and I stayed through her term, and then Ellis Ross uh was then elected in 2011. So I served as his executive assistant from 2011 to 2013. And during that time span, I had actually uh decided to take some time off of work and pursue my education. So I went back to school. Uh so I was gone for about eight months of Ellis' term. And when I had returned back to work, um he he had tried to make the recommendation for me to go work for someone else uh to get better experience and more exposure. Uh, but I always felt that my heart was always with our people and and being able to support whatever our community was doing in in terms of that advancement. Um from a young child, I never saw myself being anywhere but um with our organization. And he when I got back to work, his profile um had had from from my perception had exploded um from here in BC to Ottawa uh with requests for for him to speak at at different speaking engagements. And I thought, just for audience purposes, Ellis and I uh he was my basketball coach from a really young age. I've known him my pretty much my entire life. Um so I I know him uh quite well. And I thought, why do they want to listen to you speak? Uh to which that was his reaction. And I and I had asked, just, you know, I I want to see what's what's changing and and what focus, strategic focus that you guys are taking as leadership. So I'd asked him if I could join him on one of his speaking engagements, and he chose one uh that he thought was gonna be um exciting for me to be in the audience for. And I came down here to Vancouver uh and was inspired immediately listening to him talk about, you know, what his the the leadership's vision was and and talking about LNG and and how what the potential was to change our community's lives. And on the way back out to the airport, I asked him what he thought. We were, and we were coming up on an election uh again, and I'd asked him what his thoughts were about me becoming a counselor as opposed to remaining as the executive assistant, and he said, do it. So I I put my name in to the election, the the nomination, and was successfully nominated uh and elected for a four-year term.
SPEAKER_01:So the HISLA First Nation, how many people belong to it? Do they live in the community? Do they live distributed elsewhere?
SPEAKER_02:At that time we had about 1,200 members on our membership list. Um today we've got 2,000 and and growing. Uh we've got maybe uh I'd say about 900 that live and then the rest reside elsewhere. We've got a good concentration here in in the lower mainland, and the the rest reside elsewhere.
SPEAKER_01:And what are the collective hopes and dreams that that you hear about from the people who have elected you consistently over the last dozen years to represent them?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, it I I think the the collective was to have opportunity. It was to have um a share and a say in in terms of what our our beautiful territory has to offer in in terms of economic development. And we're very fortunate geographically to be located at the end of the Douglas Channel, which is a deep seaport that does not freeze. Uh so there's there's a lot of opportunity in terms of the development of what we refer to as the West Side. And our our people have always wanted to have a share and a say. Uh, our community wasn't new to industrial development. Um, we've had an aluminum smelter, which still operates today. Uh, we've had a pulpit paper mill and a methanol facility, which we we didn't have any participation to uh when those industries came to our territory. Uh so it's been a long time coming that our people have visioned. Um, I think another large scope is is to revitalize our culture and and our language and our community is a massive focus of theirs.
SPEAKER_01:And what's everyday life at Hysla Village, at the Kidamat Village of the Hysla Nation?
SPEAKER_02:You know, you have opportunity, like our our nation is is constantly growing. Our organization that provides the programs and service delivery to our membership is consistently growing. Uh, you know, if you don't work there, you've you've got Rio Tinto right across the channel, and and now operational, you've got LNG Canada. So there's there's a stir of different opportunities because a lot of those industry bring a lot of spin-off opportunities to our communities. So uh it is vastly different from from when I was growing up to what we have today in in our community. People are positive, they're they're hopeful. Um, our our youth are are thriving. There's programs and services that that we've never seen before in our community that were able to support our people through through much of anything to remove barriers that allow them to be successful.
SPEAKER_01:I've heard you speak so many times, Crystal, large audiences, small audiences. You never fail to connect with people as I look at the audience, and you know, I can see everyone is is just on the edge of their seat. Because you have told personal stories about it. I mean, easy in your community. You have spoken of the barriers. What's the difference between growing up uh First Nations in Canada and growing up, you know, like myself, I'm not First Nations or I grew up in the city of Vancouver. Um it's it's it's a it's a different world, I think. Um and most people don't really know the world that that you've come from. How would you describe it?
SPEAKER_02:Growing up in in my community, I I was I was I I have an identical twin sister, so I was actually born. We were born here in Vancouver, and but grew up my our entire lives in in our community. Um you know, I at a time growing up, I I spent a lot of time with with my grandparents um and didn't hear too often a lot of the conversation in regards to what their lives were like uh until I was um watching the news with my grandfather and and saw um a news report about uh residential schools and and how our leaders across Canada were starting to m to speak about uh the past experiences. And that was the first time I had ever talked to my my grandparents about what their experiences were. And when I found out that my grandfather had um been removed forcibly from his home and that he had to attend um a school on Vancouver Island for for most of his life. Um, you know, it I I'd shared in a in a few um interviews just a high level of what I had to experience as as a young child growing up. And you know, there's there was alcoholism, there was sexual abuse, there was um, you know, all the statistics that you that you hear in in mainstream, I've pretty much experienced a lot of it. Um my grandparents um and and my mom, you know, they're I'm not saying that everything was was negative in in the sense of what I had to grow up with, but um they did their best with with what they what they were what they had at the time. Um I I grew up in in a house that was uh I think we had five bedrooms and we had I had both my parents, both my grandparents and two of my uncles, along with my sister and and our younger brother, um, all living in in the house. Um you know and at the time they they were doing um trying to keep us uh focused in on education. My my stepfather was massive in in education. He he himself had um gone to school uh and uh left the community and came back. Um but keeping us involved in in sports. Um my mom was very uh she was she was a very strong uh woman who advocated for opportunities for for our youth. Um so gymnastics, judo, all being brought on reserve for for our um our youth uh until there was no more funding. Um but uh my my focus was on was on basketball. So I started playing when I was nine years old. My my twin and I started playing. Um and that was a massive, massive focus of of ours. And it still is. I'm I'm fortunate to be able to go back and have a little bit of free time now to go back. Um but as I grew up, um, you know, having children of my own, um there was still we we still had opportunity in in terms of uh employment with the nation and and and Rio Tinto. Um but in in 2013, uh when I was elected, I was elected in June, I I lost my common law to to suicide. Um so when I when I talk about all the statistics that that you see coming from all of these reports from different organizations, um I've I've experienced it, I've I've lived it. And throughout my time as being the elected chief counselor, I I know that that education is out there in terms of indigenous communities and and what leadership is often trying to find solutions for. But I didn't hear individuals that essentially were in leadership talking about the realities of of what um our communities and and some of our members go through. And I felt it was important to kind of put a face to that um story and be able to tell these issues that that I've experienced um growing up to the average Canadian citizen.
SPEAKER_01:Now, your little First Nation has been on the scene for a long time. There's been resource industries extraction going on for a long time on the shores of Douglas Channel, but it seems like we're in a different time now. I mean, for all the times before, how did the ISLA people view the growing port, the smelter, all of the forest products activities over the years, mostly that's in the past today? And and and when the LNG opportunity came along, you know, what was going on that it's turned out now so very different going forward than it obviously was in the past. I mean, what's the setup to that crystal? What was it like before?
SPEAKER_02:I mean, I think what kind of gave uh an alternative thought process was our experience to being uh essentially on the sidelines watching all the development happen with Rio Tinto, with URICAN and with Methanex. Um during the early 2000s, maybe late 90s, I can't remember the exact year, but URCAN actually shut down and stopped production, which meant there was a few hundred less jobs in in the area. And then Methanex actually shut down as as well. So our community, our our membership saw the decline and and what can happen and what will what does happen in an economic downturn. Um, you know, we we had about a handful of members that worked at URCAN, maybe a few others that worked at at Methanex. Um, but they saw what it what had happened to the district of Kitamat in the sense of schools closing, um stores picking up and leaving. Um, you know, there was there was less people, there there was less opportunity. Um and and in around that time uh we were we were fortunate to be able to be introduced to a new uh opportunity. Uh the nation wasn't new to LNG per se. Uh we actually had a project that was proposed for one of our um reserves in our community across the Douglas Channel. Back then it was supposed to be an import facility. Uh so our nation and a lot of our older generations were familiar with um LNG. Uh so coming into uh the early 2000s, 2010, um, 2012 time, uh, we were introduced to all of these uh opportunities and in terms of all of these export facilities being proposed. I think at one point we had about three or four projects being proposed for the for the same time. Our people, like I said, that that experience of not having industry running and seeing what that that impact can be in a community. Uh, we're very intrigued uh to learn about a new industry that was being proposed for our territory. And a lot of um effort in in terms of communication education piece was taken upon by our leadership at the time. Uh we have, like I stated, we have about 800, 900 on reserve, but we have membership residing elsewhere. And our leadership at the time thought it was imperative that all of our members were informed around what the opportunities could be and would be. Uh so we would do information sessions in community and we'd go to Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Prince Rupert, just so that we could interact and get that information out to our membership so that uh the entire uh all of our people had the opportunity to have their their say in what they supported for development in our territory. And they overwhelmingly supported the industry.
SPEAKER_01:So you had a consensus that you built in the community on this. And that's what's that's what's happened. You you got it built. But um one thing I've heard in my travels so frequently in First Nations communities is the other side of that, which is that you have got uh a fraction of discontent. Uh some sometimes it's organizations that have a strategy to not see a a project or an industry go ahead. And so they work in communities and and in the big cities too, to build up opposition to things. And so often in my travels, I've heard from Indigenous leaders a degree of of concern about this because of all of the opportunity that's been lost. Have you got a uh a perspective on that? I mean, was it was it something you ran across in the case of trying to bring opportunities like LNG Canada and and then Cedar LNG?
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Ross Powell, Jr.
SPEAKER_00:In terms of opportunities being lost in a sense of Of investors saying, well, it it looks like this community doesn't want us, we're gonna go somewhere else or not do the project.
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Powell One time there were there were three projects being proposed. So in in this in the sense we have seen that and experienced it with this industry. And uh, you know, it w at one point we had Chevron Kinemat LNG was proposed, and it was actually proposed to be built on reserve land that that was designated for um industrial development. Uh we had um one other small facility that was being proposed by Alta Gas. And early on in in the game, they they decided it just wasn't an opportunity, the economics didn't work. Um, so they decided to to pick up and leave. Kidamat LNG wasn't until a few years later, but just seeing how um opportunity can be lost in in the sense of something being proposed. Um and that that definitely put a a concern in in our memberships' minds in in terms of are these just gonna be speculative projects that are gonna we're gonna hear about, we're gonna be educated about, we're gonna hear about all the hope and opportunity that may be there, and and to have them up and up and leave because of economic um impacts that that essentially weren't in our control. Having a leadership that was, you know, we're we weren't massive, we didn't have a lot of resources in in terms of um taking the lead and taking initiatives and and vetting all of these projects. Um we are during Ellis's time as as the elected chief counselor, we actually took um a weekend where we tried to compare apples to apples with all of these projects and tried to develop a strategy as to how we were gonna be able to juggle all of these and and keep our pulse on on each of these projects. And we we had to narrow down where we were gonna put our resources, our limited resources, and where we were gonna put our time and attention and effort in. And at the end of the weekend, LNG Canada uh came out as the primary focus in in terms of what we saw as the recipe to make a project successful. Uh, they were they were making the necessary steps. They were, they had off take. Um so we, as a nation, decided that we were gonna strategically put all of our effort in to help support where we could use utilizing our rights and title and and the nation's profile that that Ellis had been able to build throughout the years and put it and focus in on LNG Canada.
SPEAKER_01:So you mentioned one thing, the off-take agreements you had. Can you explain what that was?
SPEAKER_02:Uh so LNG Canada is a makeup of the five joint venture partnerships. So Petronas, Cogas, Petrochina, Mitsubishi, Shell. Um the off-take agreements are absolutely crucial to these projects in the sense that they have buyers, they have somewhere for the LNG to go. And that is one of the main necessary components of having these projects be successful, are those off-take agreements. Uh, so making up the JVs were already hadn't had their agreements because those JVs were the ones that were going to be taking the LNG from LNG Canada.
SPEAKER_01:Now, early on, your nation and advisors identified having a piece of the deal, not merely, you know, benefits, maybe employment, but having a piece of it. And that really led to some extraordinary things, what we'll get that we'll get to in a minute. But um let's dive into that background a bit, because I I think you want to tell that story.
SPEAKER_02:Absolutely. I mean, our nation was really fortunate. I again, that geographical location and seeing what what the port and the Douglas Channel have to offer. Uh, we had a a group of very skilled advisors that had experience uh dealing with with corporations of the magnitude that was coming to Kitamat. And you know, they we had just finished the the agreements for uh the Rio Tinto Modernization Project. And then we had um we were doing negotiations with with Chevron for the Kinemat LNG uh site, and and we also at the same time were having conversations with LNG Canada in the Impact Benefit Agreement. Uh very fortunate to have that level of degree of advancement in terms of learning from our mistakes and then implementing into the next agreement. So it's been an absolute evolution in terms of how the nation went from our first impact-benefit agreement to where we're at today. It's just it's absolutely amazing to see how we've we've taken our experience of not being involved to becoming majority owners of a project where we make majority of the decisions of what the technology would be. Um but at one point uh our negotiators, our advisors were negotiating the impact benefit agreements with with LNG Canada. And uh a man, a brilliant man by the name of Doug Arnell, um, who had been friends with with our advisor, uh, one of our advisors, had a brilliant idea of why don't you negotiate some capacity off of the pipeline as a part of the impact benefit agreement. And and our advisors, uh we had actually been in Calgary uh speaking to investors from from Japan and where I accompanied Ellis and our deputy chief counselor, Taylor Cross, at the time. And um the investors left the room and left us having kind of a debrief conversation after it, uh, to where um Dave Lavalli brought up this this concept. And I remember sitting in the room, uh, you know, names having a the conversation with Ellis, and just to get that overall mandate, do you what do you think about us going away with this and and negotiating this? And Alice said, shh, try, give it a shot.
SPEAKER_01:What you're talking about is a 10% share of all the natural gas coming down this brand new, what,$10 billion by the time it was finished? A new pipeline from the northeast of British Columbia all the way across the Northwood province to the coast to near your village. 10% of the gas owned by your nation. That's what was on the table at that moment.
SPEAKER_02:400 mmcf of capacity off of the coastal gas link pipeline was a was was the the way it was described to me and the way I've I've worded worded it since I've I've heard it from that day. So and they went away and you know, there was there was a little bit of conversation in the room afterwards, thinking that's never gonna happen. It's not gonna be successful. And I actually recall a bet being made um between Alice and one of our lawyers about if if that was gonna be a successful negotiation. And I I don't know if Ellis ever paid him.
SPEAKER_01:And um when you think about what that deal is going to be worth and what it's why did that deal get done? Why, why did uh the consortium say yes to that? What was the value proposition for them?
SPEAKER_02:A lot of the the value proposition, I think, in and and just the way LNG Canada approached their project was was in the sense of of an Indigenous community support. Um they they valued the relationship they valued right from the beginning of of establishing a very strong relationship with with the community prior to building a major project. Um so in in terms of that, I think they saw the value that that our nation would and and could bring to their to their project by means of support, advocacy, and and having not just our leaders behind it, but our entire community seeing what the possibilities that LNG Canada could bring to our community wise.
SPEAKER_01:So when you were there in the room, you did that deal, what did you think that might mean?
SPEAKER_02:You know, it it it's been quite a journey in the sense that, you know, coming from a community that negotiated and and I talked about the our storyline. I honestly thought, what are we doing? What can can we make this a reality in in we've we've seen projects come be proposed, not get investment, and then and then leave. We're a small indigenous community. And and you just think about the magnitude of of what that what that was at the time, seeing these major industry players leaving our community. And it's this project's gonna be led by our people. At the time it was very daunting thinking we have to make this a reality. Um and bit by bit, you know, everything that we accomplished along the way, I was we are gonna make this a reality. But at the beginning, I thought we were just like much of probably everybody that heard about CEDAR at the beginning, thought we were crazy to be taking on an initiative such as that.
SPEAKER_01:So tell me about CEDAR LNG, because that's the project that that 10%, that 400 units per day has allowed you to proceed with.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. So uh CEDAR, um, when when LNG Canada and Coastal Gas Link announced their positive fund and investment decision, uh, CEDAR became an again a possibility. Um you know, we had worked kind of in the in the background in in terms of what we were, what we were dealing with and trying to wrap our heads around what is the next step? What do what do we have to, what, what do we have to do in order to get this, the, the momentum going uh in order to make this project a reality? And we had very tight timelines in terms of how and and what we were gonna do with CEDAR. Um But the the first decision was here's your here's your board of directors, uh taking the first meeting minutes and finding a name for CEDA, um, which I'm so proud to say that I was one of the first original CEDAR board members from our nation's side making the decisions to um bring CEDAR to the world. And you know, the the first decisions that we made um were along the lines of the environmental um scope, the the the environmental impacts and how CEDAR was gonna be and do better in in terms of that indigenous engagement. So, you know, one thing that uh contributed to those conversations were every decision that CEDAR was gonna make was gonna be in alignment with Heisla values. And our our first board of directors took that very, it was very serious to us to be able to say, we will bring a project of of this technology, uh, that it was gonna be floating, it was gonna be environment, we were gonna be conscious of an environment thinking seven generations out. And we made those in in the sense of thinking about our our generations of today and and our future generations.
SPEAKER_01:In business journalism, we're always looking for stories of things that went wrong. And it's very easy to overlook the stories of what went right. And when I look at the Heisler nation, I really just see something that has gone right. And I have to ask why. Why is it that in a dozen years you've had such really stable leadership? There hasn't been a lot of change out. You've recently served your time, and it was clearly time for you to hand over the reins. Uh, you've had uh obviously very strong management in your development corporation. Um, there hasn't been a lot of churn there. You haven't had you know public disputes. You know, you you haven't had you know governance um you know arguments that break into the public view. I'm sure there are things that are disagreed about internally. Um and and so as a result of that, maybe maybe no one's talking about all the things that have gone right, but I still I want to ask you, um, you know, the odds are against all of this going right, and yet we're here. What what why is it that this might be with your leadership group?
SPEAKER_02:I honestly think it has to do with us and and going back to our core values. Um, you know, I talk about having 2,000 band members, and and I I explain this at every opportunity, especially when you're in front of corporations. You have your your regular shareholders that expect you know the revenues to be generated by the decisions that your your board of directors or your or your management teams make, your executive level. Our shareholders are 2,000 Heisla members and future generations. And I think having those strong values from an Indigenous perspective, it it was built into our staff to have that mindset and that approach. We've seen, and and you know, I was very fortunate to work with a lot of people that were within my generation that saw what our our community was left out of. I grew up in a generation where we weren't involved, that there was no promise of a bright future. There was no conversations about you can go to university and be whatever you want. Um, it wasn't popular to be indigenous in in our generation. And I think knowing what we missed out on, those opportunities and wanting better for our future generations and having a staff that is committed to that. Um, you know, I there's a few of them that I I honestly tell still to this day that there's there's some of them that can move mountains, there's a few of them that can walk on water. Um we took every challenge on and you know, with that thought process, we want better for our our I want I wanted better for my grandchildren. I wanted better for my daughters. And we all want that for our families. We all want that for our communities. So I think that was the that was the key driver. It it what it's what woke me up and inspired me every day, um, especially when my grandsons are sleeping over at my house, is to take a look at them and say, I want better for, I want better than what I had.
SPEAKER_01:A lot of First Nations leaders in Canada are saying that things aren't better for them. There's been a few years of of a lot of collective goodwill. There's been some wins along the way, but there's there's still a lot that remains to be done. Um what what do you think is the the learning that you would offer from the experience of the Heistler to all First Nations?
SPEAKER_02:It is that decision of of wanting better. It's it's the decision of not wanting to manage poverty anymore. It's it's the decision of finding hope and and finding opportunity for your people to to thrive and and to succeed in this life. Not being the chief counselor, I've actually had a lot more Indigenous communities want to have conversations to find out how we were able to navigate a lot of the difficult conversations. And I'm I'm more than willing to share our experience so that other Indigenous communities can have that opportunity to thrive and be successful. And you know, the what I'm finding is that you know there's there's still a lot of lack of the the knowledge in in terms of economics and and the impact in our on our communities and having a mechanism to be able to help that economy thrive as opposed to taking away from it from what for whatever perspective. And I'm I'm finding that you know that a lot of communities struggle with that leadership conversation still around elected. Um they refer to us as INAC chiefs and councils in in comparison to your hereditary system. Um so having those conversations, having difficult conversations, our membership have to be inspired. Our members, regardless of where they reside, our members have to want better and expect more from our leadership in in the province and the community to actually want our communities to thrive.
SPEAKER_01:You mentioned hereditary leadership versus other um sort of government that comes from Canadian legislation leadership. And I find I get uh questions like that all the time. There's a lot of curiosity because there's over 600 First Nations in Canada. Each one has its own peculiarities because of how it was formed. So there's not really one cookie cutter, is there?
SPEAKER_02:Aaron Ross Powell No, there isn't. We're we're all vastly, vastly different and having those conversations. Some some communities are are far more advanced in terms of the two systems, the two governance systems um coming together and working. Um and and some aren't where there's still that struggle in terms of authority and autonomy to be able to be to be making decisions for for a community.
SPEAKER_01:So to understand the context of the high school on the coast northwest of British Columbia, uh, where for more than 10,000 years, much longer, probably there has been habitation by your ancestors in the places where you still live. Um what what are the the important groupings and and and uh communities around you on that coast?
SPEAKER_02:Other communities closer to us that that reside in in closer to our territory are are Simshan. Um so we've got Git Gat, uh which is probably about a 45-minute uh boat ride down the coast. Um inland, we've got Kits Kitslis and Kitsum Kalam, uh, which are also uh Simpshan communities. Uh further to uh outside of say the terrace area, we've got Nishka, um, which is doing their which I'm absolutely thrilled to see them advancing their um their LNG facility there in their in their community. Um I think that about that closer region would be would be there. And then Gitsan and Witsuitin.
SPEAKER_01:There's a lot of nations that are located near mining ore deposits that are doing really well. I think of the Teltan in particular, uh, who aren't very far up the road from you. Um do you do you think all of these nations are going through um the the opportunities at the same pace at the in in the same way, or is it is it quite different?
SPEAKER_02:I think it's quite different. Uh again, in in terms of you know the the makeup of their communities, the advancements that they they want to make. And you know, I guess I stated earlier that we made a concerted effort in in terms to look to have our our organization solely focus in on what we wanted to accomplish. Um you know, other communities, and I'm again just getting to know other other leadership and and and what their key focuses on. Each of our communities are are so different. Um even within the, although there's like seven Simshan communities, each of their communities are are vastly different in how they approach economic development and and what the mandates are from their people in terms of what their expectations of their leadership are. Some are cultural, are solely focused in on developing their culture and revitalizing their languages and their communities. And that's that that's their movement towards what they feel is reconciliation.
SPEAKER_01:So are your members happy with where they are now?
SPEAKER_02:Uh I I would say yes, absolutely. I mean, I I've I've seen members who have lived in the Lower Mainland for years because of lack of opportunity move back home. I've I've seen members that have lived in Alberta because of the oil and gas sector um opportunities in Alberta. I've seen a family move home to work on LNG Canada. I've got, as I was leaving office, I've I've had people in the lower mainland on Vancouver Island that, you know, were just waiting for cedar to come into operation and construction so that they could move home and be closer to family. Uh, you know, there's a lot happening um in in the community in terms of infrastructure and new programming and and service delivery. Our our nation's constantly growing to be able to meet the needs of our people. So I'm quite sure that you know that there there are a lot of people that are that are happy um that get to see new things happen and and a new way of um thinking uh to to be able to help our people um coming.
SPEAKER_01:I wonder if there's one story that you can tell from your storybook.
SPEAKER_02:Well, you know, um one story actually, I I first started getting tattoos, and I was told whatever you do, don't get a sleeve. And I thought, I'm getting a sleeve.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, of course.
SPEAKER_02:Um, so I mean that the the tattoos each have meanings um in in terms of my family makeup. Um, this one in particular, um, my older grandson, his name's Xavier, he's uh he has autism. He was diagnosed with autism during uh COVID. Um so I I have uh a couple of local artists in in our community um draw uh what clan. He's in the beaver clan. So this one represents him, he's so close to my heart. Um my twin and my siblings have this tattoo to represent our mom. We unfortunately lost when she was only 42 to cancer. Um this one um tattoo, which I also have on my back, um, but I wanted to be visible, um, represents my my mom's parents, who was my grandmother was an eagle and my grandfather was a raven. And what I don't I haven't shared too publicly and and on the record is my father is from GitGat, my biological father from the community down the coast. And um I had asked one of his brothers, so my uncle, who was an artist, to to draw something that represented my my grandfather and my grandmother on on that side of the family. So uh he drew this for me. Uh so that represents my my Simxian side. Um and then of course our our nation's logo, uh, which I'm I'm gonna go put the years that I served as as our elected elected representative here, uh, just to commemorate that as a memory for myself. And my daughter loves Stitch. This one I I have an identical twin sister, so I often quoted that she's a yin to my yin. So we're in the eagle clan, so I got one done in red and one done in black.
SPEAKER_01:Crystal, thanks for gracing our studio.
SPEAKER_02:Thank you for having me. I'm I'm glad this worked out.
