Crystal Fafard has always been passionate about causes related to social justice and can’t think of a more important topic than saving the planet for future generations. Crystal grew up in Melfort, Saskatchewan, a farming community about 90 minutes east of Saskatoon with four siblings. She obtained her B.A. (Hons.) at the University of Saskatchewan and J.D. at the University of British Columbia. Growing up, her mother was always concerned about water consumption and returning to a self-sustaining economy, so when Crystal was 15 the family moved to an acreage and lived off the land having huge gardens, chickens, goats, cows and pigs. They hauled water and only had the luxury of electricity; otherwise, they were off the grid.

At some level this must have made an impact on Crystal as she is an avid renewable energy enthusiast making her living as a corporate and renewable energy lawyer with Maurice Law, a national Indigenous boutique law firm. She has participated on national panels, helped provinces develop renewable consultation plans and policies and has sat on the board of the First Nations Power Authority since 2015, acting as the Vice-Chair. Crystal and her husband RJ have always had a dream of living off the land, just as she remembered, and in 2016 they built a cabin in a remote area on a private lake. The cabin is heated with passive solar, wood stove and infloor propane heat. They had plans to add a solar array; however, SaskPower ended the rebate program that would make it affordable so they may see what the future brings.

Crystal is known in the Saskatoon and larger community as a “tree hugger” and can been seen doing such wherever she travels and strongly believes that planting trees and limiting harvest of the rainforests is critical to our collective future. She is deeply concerned about the Amazon and BC rain forests as they help mitigate the Co2 emission crisis. Crystal is also Indigenous tracing her ancestry to the Anishinaabe people and is a member of Yellow Quill First Nation. Crystal is concerned about where we are heading, but does have hope in the fact that more people are aware of the damage being done to the earth and are pressuring governments to act. She is a proud participant of Earth Day and can be seen at the various marches calling for action to protect the environment.

Crystal’s motto in life is, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” She explains that, to her, this means while humans can do many amazing things regarding technology, commercial or economic development/growth, it doesn’t mean it is always a good idea. It can cause more harm than good, even though the short-term benefits seem wonderful to many.

Having sat on many boards including Enterprise Saskatchewan under the Wall government, she has learned that sometimes very good intentions can lead to long-term harm and it is often the poorest who pay the price. She points to the overuse of plastics and environmental deregulation as perfect examples of this concept and hopes new governments and those wishing to become leaders will always put the earth and people before profit. When asked for a concrete example of this, she refers to the micro-plastics in the oceans that we inevitable consume through the food chain. She jokingly stated she has, “already eaten a credit card just this month alone” and that “we are what we eat”.

Crystal who laughingly refers to herself as the “Queen of Green”, hopes to continue her work as an advocate in the renewable energy space, pointing out that Saskatchewan has great potential for solar and wind development, but reminds us that conserving energy is just as important as creating more technology to serve the demand — noting that even the creation of green energy has a significant impact on the planet. The Queen of Green is hopeful that through the changes we are seeing, including through Covid 19, that we will pause to see the beautiful world in nature and not forget to look up and remember we are just a tiny blue planet. To learn more about Crystal and her work, feel free to check out her law firms website at www.mauricelaw. com.