Chief Russell Wesley of Bizhiw-zaaga’iganiing Nitam Anishinaabeg, or Cat Lake First Nation, said he was surprised to be recognized by Clean50 as one of its 2026 honourees. But after 40 years of promoting sustainability and environmentally friendly practices in northwestern Ontario and beyond, Wesley seems an obvious choice.
“I do these things because they need to be done,” said Wesley. “I certainly didn’t expect an award. I guess someone out there acknowledges that I have a special function in society. I was rather humbled by it.”
According to its website, the Clean50 “annually offers recognition to Canada’s leaders in sustainability for their contributions over the prior two years.” Wesley was one of 74 honourees recognized by Clean50 this year including three from Northern Ontario.
Wesley lives sustainability every day.
Climate change is hitting remote First Nations in Ontario hard for several reasons. One of the most noticeable changes is to the ice road system. Without a permanent road in, Cat Lake has a very short window in the winter to transport equipment and materials to the community every year over frozen rivers, lakes, and wetlands.
That window is getting shorter and less reliable, Wesley said. Temperatures are not staying low enough for long enough as winters warm up in northwestern Ontario.
“Last year, twice I sank my truck on a winter road,” he said. Complicating the situation is the fact that Cat Lake doesn’t share the ice road from Pickle Lake with other First Nations.
“Because of our geographical location, we can’t pool road funding, unfortunately,” he said. “We get a fixed amount for the 175 kilometres or so.”
A permanent road is an obvious solution — that’s the mandate that the community gave the chief and council, he said. But as anyone who has driven through the rock- and lake-riddled Canadian Shield can appreciate, it’s much easier said than done. Securing permitting and funding has been a difficult process as well, Wesley said.
“Cat Lake has approached all-season road questions on three fronts: the Windigo (First Nations Council nation-building) initiative, the biomass project, and the mining industry,” he said.
However, it has to be done the right way, Wesley said. He referred to an injunction Cat Lake won when First Gold Mining tried to build an ice road on traditional lands and existing infrastructure without consultation. He said he talked about some of the issues during the Clean50 awards ceremony.
“All you need is to do is come talk to us,” Wesley said. “Come to our lands, have tea, spend the night, come fishing. We’re not opposed to development — we never said we were.… You’d be surprised at how similar our needs and objectives are.
“We’re looking at all-season roads for infrastructure and looking for ways to create an economy for the community.”
One of those economic initiatives is a biomass project being developed in partnership with the Natural Resources Institute of Finland (LUKE). Wesley said that sustainable forestry in the Cat Lake area can provide renewable mass timber, biofuel, and other wood products. He sees connections with operations in the region including Dryden and Sioux Lookout. But it can’t be done without an all-season road.
These are just a few examples of the many ways Wesley has demonstrated strong leadership over the years. He first became chief of Cat Lake at 22 years old. He’s worked with Ontario and federal government agencies. He authored the first Shared Territory Protocol (now commonly known as a Land Acknowledgement). He helped negotiate the first resource revenue-sharing agreement with Placer Dome. He helped create the first Indigenous-led Impact Assessment for environmental assessments. He brought the inquest into Romeo Wesley’s death to Cat Lake from Sioux Lookout so community members could attend the proceedings — another first.
Wesley said that he takes a global approach to problems. Just as ice roads are tied to the economy as much as they’re tied to climate change, everything is interconnected. “Sustainability” is part of a larger holistic picture.
He said that what he’s most proud of is the advances in education in the region. Wesley said he was in the residential school system for two years until his parents hid him away, so he only completed Grade 7. In other circumstances, he might have become a lawyer or an economist, he said.
But building an education system across a large geography dotted with small, isolated communities is not straightforward. It requires setting up internet and communications as well as creating institutions such as Oshki-Wenjack in Thunder Bay for 49 Nishnawbe Aski Nation communities in northwestern Ontario. As of October 2025, Oshki-Wenjack is now a fully accredited postsecondary institution. Wesley himself benefitted from this growing access to education, receiving his GED high school equivalency at age 45.
However, other issues are still prevalent in the community including mental health and addictions.
“The addiction rate in my community still hovers around 88 per cent, just as it was back in 2013 when I established a Suboxone program for my late wife,” Wesley said. “She attended for one day. One day she attended the program. You know, interestingly enough, she was the executive director for the Cat Lake Solvent Abuse Treatment Centre.”
Today, he has a funding proposal in with provincial and federal government agencies to expand services at the centre to cover all mental health and addictions, he said.
An all-season road would likely help improve these issues and health in general — another example of the holistic approach needed to solve complex problems.
Wesley said that he didn’t accomplish any of his achievements on his own and acknowledges all the people who help him.
“I can’t take all the credit,” he said. “I have a number of wonderful technicians who assist me with my writing and my planning. I’m really happy that they share that belief in what I try to achieve for my community — and Ontarians, for that matter. I wouldn’t be able to accomplish much of this stuff without them.”