Guest: Crystal Smith, Past Chief of Haisla Nation

On this edition of Journal, we talk with a woman who embodies the gold standard of leadership. What does it take to be a great leader?

Crystal Smith, Chief Counsellor of the Haisla Nation from 2016 to 2025, was a major public voice supporting LNG Canada in Kitimat, at a time when opposition was vocal and sometimes vicious. But she stood her ground. Crystal believed that only through economic development would she be able to help lift her people out of poverty and despair.

And she did it. LNG Canada is now operational and Cedar LNG, the world’s first to be majority owned by an Indigenous nation, is on its way.

Today, if you visit the Haisla Nation (as I have), you will see a large recreation centre hosting sporting and cultural events, a beautiful health centre offering mental health and addiction support, as well as seeing to the basic medical needs of the community. Overall there is a sense of confidence and well being in the Haisla Nation. Much gratitude is owed to Crystal and former Chief Ellis Ross.

But what did it take to become the leader Crystal is today? It wasn’t easy. She has talked emotionally about her personal or family connection to sexual abuse, drug addiction – and suicide.

Was being a woman an advantage or a disadvantage on this journey?

Was being indigenous an advantage or a disadvantage?

There are lessons to be learned from one woman’s already successful life – and she’s just beginning.

Enjoy this episode via podcast or YouTube: