Archived events
Economic Reconciliation
November 21, 2023 @ Vancouver, BC
This month’s event was presented by
Meet the panelists
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Ellis Ross was elected MLA for Skeena in 2017 and again in 2020. He currently serves as the Shadow Minister for Energy and LNG.
Ross has previously served as the Official Opposition Critic for Environment and Climate Change Strategy, and Minister of Natural Gas Development and Minister Responsible for Housing. He has worked in both the private and public sectors, with business experience in hand logging, beach-combing, and construction.
Ellis worked full time as a taxi boat operator until the Haisla Nation Council requested that he become their first full-time councillor. Ellis served in this position for eight years, from 2003 to 2011. In 2011, Ellis was elected Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation, and was re-elected by acclamation in 2013.
Ellis has been recognized as a business leader by both BC Business magazine and Canadian Business magazine. In 2012, Ellis was appointed the inaugural chair of the Aboriginal Business and Investment Council. In 2014, he was the only First Nations leader among 25 Canadians invited by then-Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to a public policy and budget retreat.
In recognition of his community service, Ellis was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal in 2013 and the Order of BC in 2014.
Ellis actively enjoys golf, soccer, and basketball. He has a passion for seeing people succeed in athletics, school, and life, which drove his coaching style. One of the highlights of his coaching career is coaching the Mount Elizabeth Secondary School senior girls' basketball team to a zone championship.
He is a proud father of two daughters and a proud grandfather.
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Crystal Smith, chair of the 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.
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President & CEO of Whitehorse-based Dakwakada Capital Investments, Conrad Browne leads a team responsible for undertaking and managing private investment in properties, funds, and businesses on behalf of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. He was previously Teal Jones’ Director of Indigenous Partnerships and Strategic Relations, responsible for the company’s relationship with First Nations in whose territories that company operates. He played a key role in navigating the ‘Fairy Creek’ controversy and protests. Prior to joining Teal Jones he was the CEO of the K’awat’si Economic Development Corporation (KEDC), for the Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations (GNN) in Port Hardy, BC. He first joined the GNN as an economic development officer, and build KEDC from the ground up – taking it from one employee and a single business line to 150 employees in six lines in a few years. He joined GNN from BC’s then Ministry of Forests and Range, where he was District Compliance Leader & Operations Manager. He has more than 30 years of management experience in First Nations’ capital investment, the natural resource sector, large national and international companies, as well as hospitality and restaurant businesses. Growing up in Alberta, Conrad spent his formative years in agricultural and ranching. Conrad was formally a RFT and also has his 4th class Power Engineer’s ticket as well as his Chef’s papers.
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Profile TBA
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Mr. Dall’Antonia is President and Chief Executive Officer for FortisBC Inc. and FortisBC Energy Inc., overseeing electricity and natural gas business operations. With more than 25 years of experience in the energy industry, he has been trusted in numerous leadership roles throughout the organization, including executive oversight of customer service and technology, regulatory affairs, strategic planning and corporate development, finance and treasury. Mr. Dall’Antonia serves on the board of directors of the Canadian Gas Association, Electricity Canada and Western Energy Institute, as well as the Board of Governors for the BC Business Council. He is also a board member for the FortisBC group of companies and Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. and has previously served on the board of the Down Syndrome Research Foundation and Resource Centre. Mr. Dall’Antonia holds a BBA from Simon Fraser University and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
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Thomas Isaac is a partner in the Business Law Group at Cassels and serves as Chair of the firm’s Aboriginal Law Group. A nationally recognized authority in Aboriginal law, Tom advises business and government clients across Canada on Aboriginal legal matters and related environmental assessments, negotiations, and regulatory and constitutional issues. Tom has extensive national experience advising energy, oil, gas, pipeline, mining and forestry companies, lenders and investors, and federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments and agencies on Aboriginal and project-related regulatory and environmental matters. He regularly negotiates on behalf of industry and governments concerning impact, benefit, economic development, replacement tenures, and access agreements with Aboriginal groups, and advises on Aboriginal consultation and accommodation processes and agreements. In recognition of his important and significant work in this area, Tom was honoured as one of Canada’s “Top 25 Most Influential” lawyers by Canadian Lawyer magazine in 2018.
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Leon Gaber is an Executive Director and National Lead for KPMG Canada’s Critical Infrastructure Resilience & Emergency Management practice. He specializes in supporting governments, communities, and critical infrastructure asset owners in emergency planning and response, and in long-term planning to build resilience to climate hazards and reduce disaster risk.
Leon spent 15 years working in the government of British Columbia, focusing on the oversight and implementation of large scale, politically sensitive initiatives across multiple sectors. His experience spans professional governance, emergency management, supply chain management, natural resource management, and environmental spill response. He is also a seasoned facilitator and has significant experience engaging with a wide variety of groups including local government, First Nations, industry, and non-governmental organizations.