Remarks by Crystal Smith
B7 Energy Ministerial Event
As a young girl growing up in the Haisla Nation, I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams that I would be standing in this room tonight among so many distinguished guests, talking about what is one of the most important issues in the world right now: energy security.
And it never would have occurred to me that my nation would be able to contribute a small part of the solution.
But I am no longer a young girl. I’m a mother and a grandmother and a former Chief, and I join you today at the B7 not just as an Indigenous person, but as a member of the business community myself.
I know my people, and Indigenous people across Canada, belong and have something important to contribute to these discussions. I’m grateful to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce for inviting me here to share my thoughts.
What I want to speak to you about today is a topic I am very passionate about: the role Indigenous people can play in ensuring reliable, affordable energy reaches all members of the G7 and their allies.
I understand there is a general perception around the world that Indigenous peoples are against oil and gas and resource development.
I’m not here to speak for anyone but myself and the experience of my community. But I can tell you there has been a shift in the relationship of many Indigenous nations in western Canada and the oil and gas sector in the past decade.
A lot of that shift arises from the constitutional affirmation of Indigenous rights in Canada, which gives nations like mine a lot more say about what happens in our territory.
And a lot of the shift is from a change of attitude from industry, who in the past may have seen us as an obstacle, if they thought of us at all; to approaching us as equal partners and being genuinely interested in understanding our needs and potential contributions. This has allowed us to work creatively together to find solutions to our shared environmental, cultural and labour challenges.
I’m not going to say all of this was easy for our community, and I’m sure it wasn’t always easy for our industry partners. Corporate shareholders and Haisla citizens have different worldviews and different ways of thinking.
But because we had a foundation based on mutual respect, we’ve found ways to overcome those challenges, and it’s largely based on the fact that our community had a share and a say in how development proceeded in our territory.
So, what have we accomplished?
I’m very proud to say that LNG Canada, a consortium led by Shell and involving PETRONAS, PetroChina, Mitsubishi Corporation, and KOGAS as partners, began shipping its first cargoes in July from a terminal in Kitimat on Haisla territory.
And because our Japanese colleagues are here, I want to acknowledge a huge honour I was given. Mitsubishi named one of their LNG carriers after me, the Diamond Gas Crystal, and I was able to watch it pick up its cargo last month in the Douglas Channel, where my ancestors have fished and gathered and loved and died for millennia.
It was such an emotional and symbolic day, to see that tangible expression of the partnership my nation, the Haisla Nation, has with the people of Japan, and to imagine molecules flowing through my territory going to heat homes, generate electricity and power industry all the way across the Pacific.
I’m especially excited to share with you that LNG Canada, and the relationships we developed with industry on that project, has led to another LNG project in our territory – Cedar LNG – in which my nation is a co-proponent and majority owner.
Cedar LNG is the first Indigenous majority-owned LNG project in the world, and it will export amongst the lowest carbon-intense LNG in the world. It received a positive Final Investment Decision in July 2024, with commercial offtake agreements in place, and is now under construction. We hope to be in service in late 2028.
In my community, LNG has provided jobs and revenues, but maybe most importantly it has provided hope and pride for my people. We are no longer managing poverty. We are managing prosperity.
But beyond the local economic impacts, we are acutely aware of what the project, and what Canadian LNG and other energy and mineral products, can mean for global energy security.
I have had the privilege of meeting with Ambassadors from all G7 nations and have been able to visit some of our customers and partners in Asia.
I was able to get an understanding of the challenges and vulnerability that comes with being an energy importer, and the need to secure reliable trade partners.
Canada is a country rich in energy and resources. But growing up on reserve, I understand what scarcity feels like.
The people of the Haisla Nation don’t want anyone to be deprived of having enough energy to not only meet their basic needs, but to be secure and prosperous.
And with growing demands from population growth, data centres, air conditioning and coal-to-gas switching, we are seeing a lot of demand for more natural gas, from countries like Canada.
The good news I am happy to share with you today, as our political leaders meet to discuss these important issues, is that I have never seen better alignment from Indigenous nations, the provincial government of British Columbia, the federal government of Canada, and producers and customers of LNG, to work together to get Canadian projects done in a timely manner and increase our shipments of LNG to global markets.
On the BC coast we now have one producing facility, two under construction, and two more large projects that have been approved by regulators waiting for Final Investment Decisions. Combined they would produce about 7 billion cubic feet a day.
These projects all have some combination of Indigenous involvement and leadership, whether through ownership of pipelines and LNG terminals, workforce engagement, impact and benefit agreements, and regulation.
The success of Canada’s global role as an LNG supplier will be transformative for our nations and for Canada as whole – something we can be uniquely proud of achieving together, and a model for future success.
Of course, these projects would not be possible without the investment, expertise, components and manufactured goods from our allies.
I know much more today about jetties and pumps and compressors and liquefaction units than I ever expected to. And I have been constantly impressed by the ingenuity and sophistication that goes into developing the machinery, transporting it, and assembling it into a functioning terminal.
My nation is richer because we have been able to trade with others. To exchange what we produce for what you produce, and mutually benefit.
That leads me to my closing thoughts. I want to share with you that even though it may be new for Indigenous leaders to be part of these global business gatherings, our peoples have long histories and traditions of trading with neighbouring nations, and trying to find ways to work with, rather than against, each other. When we were successful, it generally led to more peaceful and prosperous times for everyone.
I am grateful to witness this gathering of nations and traders here in Canada during this pivotal time for the world, as we work to find common solutions to the challenges we all face.
I think I can speak for many Canadians, Indigenous and non, when I say we are looking to build deeper partnerships with all nations in the G7 by trading more of our responsibly produced, reliable energy with you.
Thank you!
