Karen Ogen, Alliance CEO
The Alliance Year: powerful messages on First Nations and LNG
The Alliance kept followers up to speed on LNG developments throughout 2025, on its website and social media, including this powerful message from CEO Karen Ogen: “Canadian LNG is Indigenous LNG.”
As she said: “First Nations are writing the roadmap to clean energy prosperity, a roadmap to owning our future. . . . We will play our part as an advocate for responsible energy development. We are closing the Indigenous Energy Gap. Canadian LNG is Indigenous LNG, and that is good for the world and good for all of us.”
Her message drew strong and positive audience interaction in 2025 from more than 37,700 followers on LinkedIn, on X, and, late in the year, on the Alliance’s restored page on Facebook.
As Karen said in November 2025: “When you hear about LNG, just know that what we are really talking about is Indigenous LNG. That means it involves First Nations in a meaningful way, is produced at the highest global environmental standards, and will generate benefits for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians alike. . . .
“The world is knocking on Canada’s door for responsibly-produced Indigenous LNG – and BC First Nations hold the key. That may not have been the story a decade ago, but it’s the chapter being written now for our benefit today and for future generations.”
And she added: “First Nations are critical to the natural-gas supply chain. From the upstream, to the midstream, to tidewater, the project touches dozens of First Nations territories and will involve thousands of people. . . . LNG exported from the west coast is different than LNG from the Gulf Coast or LNG from Qatar and other places in the world. Why? Because it’s ‘Indigenous LNG’.”
In December, Karen became a senior fellow of the prestigious Macdonald-Laurier Institute, which says it is the Canadian think-tank most cited in Parliament.
And she was also appointed to the board of directors of another non-partisan think tank, the Public Policy Forum, which was founded in 1987.
Also among senior fellows at Macdonald-Laurier is Crystal Smith, former Alliance chair and now the Alliance’s special advisor on external relations.
The list of fellows further includes Stephen Buffalo, CEO of the Indian Resource Council of Canada; Sharleen Gale, executive chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition; JP Gladu, natural-resource leader and former CEO of the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business; and Karen Restoule, director of Indigenous affairs at the Institute.
The Macdonald-Laurier Institute later carried a video interview with Crystal Smith, interviewed by Karen Restoule. Watch it here: https://ow.ly/95ku50XJ6OY And Resource Works ran a video interview in which Crystal spoke with Resource Works CEO Stewart Muir.
At the same time, Eva Clayton, president of the Nisga’a Nation, became acting chair of the Alliance, succeeding Crystal Smith. The position will be formally filled at the next meeting of the board of directors on January 20.
Eva Clayton became in 2016 the first female president (and seventh president) of the Nisga’a Nation in northwestern BC. She is also a leader of the Nation’s Ksi Lisims LNG project.
Ksi Lisims LNG and the PRGT pipeline that will feed natural gas to it were referred by Prime Minister Mark Carney to his new Major Projects Office. That move was hailed by the Nisga’a Nation. And Karen Ogen’s November commentary on Ksi Lisims LNG said: “It’s a vision that’s becoming a reality.”
Also in November, Karen Ogen and Crystal Smith were honoured with awards at the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase (IPSS) event in Vancouver. Crystal was recognized as Indigenous Business Leader of the Year, and Karen was cited for Excellence in Indigenous-Corporate Partnership. Learn more: https://ow.ly/aKiN50XtgTa
In October, the Alliance welcomed two new members to its board of directors: Sharon Turner, elected councillor of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, and Jacob Albertson of the McLeod Lake Indian Band, CEO of the Nation’s Duz Cho Group of Companies. Meet them here.
In July, BC Premier David Eby, in a special letter, thanked Crystal Smith for “your many years of service as chief councillor of Haisla Nation and as a board member and Chair of the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance.”
Said Crystal: “It was an incredible honour to serve as Chief Councillor of the Haisla Nation and to represent our people through the First Nations Natural Gas Alliance. . . .This letter is a meaningful reminder that the work we do matters. And that when we lead with heart, grounded in our values and identity, real change is possible.”
Crystal Smith was also honoured with a blanket ceremony after she attended her last Alliance board meeting as Alliance chair, on July 11.
In a special tribute to Crystal, Karen Ogen called her a leader, a builder and a champion. Read the full tribute here: https://ow.ly/h4gn50WpPUj
Also in July, Karen Ogen herself was featured in the LNG Industry (North America) magazine: “First Nations want to be owners — as equity partners and through other forms of participation that help build self-sufficiency.” See pages 33-36 at https://ow.ly/cm4F50WlO4K
In April, the Public Policy Forum presented Crystal Smith with its Testimonial Dinner 2025 Award in recognition of her leadership in the energy sector. Here are points from her acceptance speech on April 24, including her call for Indigenous ownership and partnership in resource projects: https://ow.ly/CkWl50XQqNQ
And in February Crystal Smith was honoured by the Energy Council of Canada as Canadian Energy Person of the Year for 2024. The tribute story: https://ow.ly/smBA50UWoSl
Also in February, Karen Ogen explained, in a speech to the Canadian Global Affairs Institute in Ottawa, “why we say Canadian LNG is Indigenous LNG.” Read more here: https://ow.ly/iiFE50XQqVx
And in that month Karen Ogen also wrote a guest column in The Vancouver Sun: “I have been meeting officials in Japan. Our stable, long-time ally and trading partner wants Canadian LNG. Our allies in Korea want it too. And Malaysia. All throughout Asia, in fact.
“There is a huge market for Canada’s LNG, much beyond what Phase 1 of LNG Canada’s project can deliver. We must answer the call, now more than ever. For our own sake. . . .
“It’s not just Canadian LNG we are exporting, it’s Indigenous LNG. Our LNG industry in B.C. has been developed in partnership with First Nations.” Read it all here: https://ow.ly/IwNg50UWoOl
- Check out 2025 Alliance Newsletters for more. And our Alliance blogs.
And may you all have a tremendous 2026. . . .
In the photos below: At left, Crystal Smith is with Stewart Muir, CEO of Resource Works and founder of the Indigenous Partnerships Success Showcase event in Vancouver. At right, Karen Ogen, holding her award paddle (carved by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Ross Henderson) is with award presenter Lana Eagle.
