Newsletter: Chief Crystal Smith raps Hollywood opponents

Crystal Smith column in National Post

The headline on her guest column: If Mark Ruffalo cared about First Nations like mine, he’d defend natural gas projects

And she wrote:

“Recently the likes of Mark Ruffalo and Ben Stiller have, with some of their friends, opposed — strongly — natural gas developments in the northwest of B.C., including in Haisla territory.

“And if they succeed in stopping these projects they will also be stopping the hopes and aspirations of thousands of B.C. Aboriginal people for a future free from unemployment, free from welfare, and free from hopelessness and despair. . . .

“Companies like LNG Canada, and the Coastal GasLink pipeline which will supply it with gas, came to Haisla and delivered what we have needed for a century — a share and a say.”

National Post has some 1.4 million readers. Chief Crystal’s column also reached well over 9,300 people and was shared more than 85 times on our Facebook channel. It was also much approved and shared on our LinkedIn and Twitter streams. As well, LNG Canada and others shared it on their social-media pages.

Outreach: safe and inclusive work spaces

Our 10th Outreach and Diversity session looked at what safety and inclusion mean at work and in workspaces.

The guest speakers: Stewart Cameron, Saulteau Nation and Maugwa Energy; Michael Gibb, Coastal GasLink; and Budd Phillips, WorkSafe BC.

  • Stewart Cameron: “People have to start to understand, corporations and industry have to start understanding, when they’re making a relationship with me the Indigenous person, they have to take into consideration and understand my world view. along with my traditions . . . and the effects of what happened to us as Indigenous people and how we’re dealing with it today (and) listen to each other with our hearts and our ears.”
  • More info, and the session on video: http://ow.ly/QpF150Iukug
  • Earlier Outreach stories: http://ow.ly/eoKe50IuepR and http://ow.ly/HFy150Iuew3

 

Our podcasts examine Indigenous issues

Our third and fourth Leadership Showcase podcasts featured Clifford White, a hereditary leader and a former elected chief councillor of the Gitxaala Nation, and vice-chair of the Alliance; and Eva Clayton, elected president of the Nisga’a Nation, secretary of the Alliance, and a leader of her nation’s major Ksi Lisims LNG project.

Clifford White speaks of how young Indigenous people face challenges to prepare for career and business opportunities in natural resources.

And President Clayton discusses how reconciliation is a work in progress, not just for non-Indigenous Canadians and governments, but for Indigenous Peoples as well.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

  •  Canada’s new climate plan calls for 42% cut in emissions from oil and gas sector: ly/66Up50IviGZ
  • Our Alliance CEO, Karen Ogen-Toews, in Victoria’s Times Colonist newspaper: Canada needs to set a new course with energy and minerals: ly/H4Z650IoE8L
  • LNG Newfoundland and Labrador (with First Nations partnership) looks at speeding up, to meet European demand: ly/4GEP50IuZg0
  • Woodfibre LNG has a 2022 budget of $600M, en route to final investment decision, and is working on an Impact Benefit Agreement with the Squamish Nation: ly/Nz3J50Iraht
  • Nadleh Whut’en Nation breaks ground for section of the Coastal GasLink pipeline: ly/BucK50It5AA
  • Ellis Ross calls out Mark Ruffalo and other celebrities for pipeline criticism: it/SLvHHR See also Melissa Mbarki: ow.ly/26Ui50IpwVV

DATES

  • The two-day hybrid (in-person and online) conference of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition is set for April 25-26. You can register here (free for Indigenous communities): http://ow.ly/5OoP50GKXKA
  • The Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase hosted by the Resource Works Society runs May 26-27, in-person and online. Free online registration for First Nations people. Learn more: https://www.indigenoussuccess.ca/

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First Nations LNG Alliance Newsletter