Crystal Smith
Chief Councillor: Haisla Nation
Crystal Smith, chair of our First Nations LNG Alliance, is the elected chief councillor for the Haisla Nation, located on the northern coast of BC.
She has long been a champion of responsible development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated pipelines in BC, and her Nation has numerous partnerships with developers in that field.
Chief Crystal became chair of the Alliance in November 2019, succeeding the founding chair, Chief Dan George.
Over the years she has taken on various roles in the Haisla community including chair of the Haisla Executive Committee and co-chair of the Stakeholder Relations Committee.
Crystal is working within the Haisla Nation to support the membership and to create opportunities for industry and business to invest in Haisla territory.
Crystal attended Northwest Community College and has a background in administration.
John Jack
Councillor: Huu-ay-aht First Nations
John Alan Jack, treasurer of the First Nations LNG Alliance, is a three-term member of council for the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, a modern treaty nation on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
He has held nearly every major council file and was responsible for the Huu-ay-aht involvement in the proposed Kwispaa LNG project with Steelhead LNG of Vancouver.
He is also his Nations’ representative on the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, and has been its chair since 2016.
He lives in Oceanside on Vancouver Island with his wife and two daughters.
Clifford White
Chief, Gitxaala Nation
Clifford White (Nees Ma’Outa) is a hereditary leader and a former elected chief councillor of the Gitxaala Nation.
He is a lifelong facilitator and trainer, and has been involved for more than 10 years with the First Nations Court in New Westminster. He is an elder of the court. He also works with BC’s Aboriginal Family Healing Court project, a pilot program that deals with Indigenous children and families.
White is also chair of the First Nations Advisory Committee for the province of BC, and has worked with BC’s Industry Training Authority and trades unions on Indigenous workforce development, seeking to ensure that trades training for Indigenous people meets first-class standards.
Heather Nooski
Councillor : Wet’suwet’en First Nation
Heather Nooski is an elected councillor of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation.
While not directly involved in the nation’s LNG strategy as such, she puts a crucial personal priority on protecting her peoples’ environment, and that’s a key factor in the nation’s approach to LNG and resource development.
“It’s so important as our people go berry-picking, hunting, trapping, and fishing in Wet’suwet’en territory. There’s medicine on the land, and that’s what I find very important about the land itself.”
Her interim council portfolios include education, youth, health, social and communications. She has a strong interest in health and education, given that she has spent 12 years in central Alberta as a teacher’s aide and community health worker for the Maskwacis region and its four First Nations.
Eva Clayton
President: Nisga’a Nation
Eva Clayton (Noxs Wil Luu-g̱aamiks Hloks) became the elected president of the Nisga’a Nation in 2016, and was re-elected in November 2020. She is leading her nation’s major Ksi Lisims LNG project.
She began working with the Nisga’a Tribal Council in the early 1980s, with Nisga’a leaders including Dr. Frank Calder, James Gosnell, and Rod Robinson, while they were actively negotiating what would become the Nisga’a Final Agreement.
She was the first female Nisga’a chief councillor for the New Aiyansh Village Government (now Gitlaxt’aamiks), and served as councillor for the then Gitlaxt’aamiks Band Council and now the Gitlaxt’aamiks Village Government.
She is Ksim Ganada from Wilps Ksim Xsaan. She lives in her home community, the Nisga’a Village of New Aiyansh, with her husband Eric. Eva and Eric have three daughters, Megan and twins Kelsey and Amanda. Eva is a proud grandmother to six grandchildren.
