Cheslatta Carrier Nation Senior Policy Department

The Senior Policy Department works on a variety of diverse projects such as negotiations, history & archives, external relations, media & communications, and community/economic development. The department is managed by Mike Robertson who first began working for CCN in 1981.

Mike works closely with Chief & Council and senior staff for the betterment of the nation and community-at-large and points to the many benefits that have come using Cheslatta’s ‘partnerships approach’ to negotiations and issue resolution.  This approach helped lead to successful community infrastructure projects, unique industrial partnerships, enhanced CCN land jurisdiction, substantial CCN private land holdings and the Cheslatta-BC Settlement Agreement in 2019 and the New Day Agreement signed with Rio Tinto in 2020.

This partnership approach is being used with the ‘Ne Too Power Project’.  ‘Ne Too’ in Cheslatta Dakelh means ‘Our Water’. The project involves installation of an electrical power generating facility and spillway at the Kenney Dam which will provide benefits to Cheslatta and neighboring First Nations communities for generations to come. The project will provide substantial environmental restoration opportunities in the upper-Nechako and Cheslatta watersheds, reintroduce water into the dry Nechako Canyon and permanently eliminate flood and erosion events in the Cheslatta Lake and River system.

Upcoming projects include Traditional Land Use Ground-Truthing, Collaborative Management with BC Parks, Cheslatta Guardian Program, and the Reservoir Stewardship Initiative with a strong focus aimed at getting Cheslatta youth onto their land and re-aquatinting them to the Territory.

Mike believes strongly that while Cheslatta has achieved great success for many years with partnerships and economic development, Cheslatta’s future must include reclaiming its territorial jurisdiction and implementing sound land, resource, and environmental stewardship practices.

Mike represents Cheslatta as a board member of Nechako Kitimat Development Fund and the Nechako Watershed Round Table.