Chief Commissioners

Celeste Haldane is serving her second term as Chief Commissioner and was first appointed in April 2017. She is Musqueam (Coast Salish) and Metlakatla (Tsimshian) from the Sparrow and Haldane families, and has European ancestry.

Celeste is a practising lawyer and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2019. Drawing from over 25 years of experience, her specializations are in Indigenous law and corporate governance, and she previously practiced criminal defense and civil litigation. She is an active member of both the Indigenous Bar Association and the Canadian Bar Association, and currently serves on the CBA Indigenous Advisory Group. She holds a Master of Laws in Constitutional Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University. Celeste is currently pursuing her doctorate in Anthropology and Law from the University of British Columbia, where she earned a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Anthropology).

Celeste also serves on governance boards and is currently a Director of the Brain Canada Foundation and Legal Aid BC. Previously, she served on the Hamber Foundation, UBC Board of Governors, the Musqueam Capital Corporation, and the Indigenous Bar Association, and is an alumna of the Governor General’s Canadian Leadership Conference. Celeste lives with her husband, Conrad, on Vancouver Island, and is the proud mother of three and grandmother of two.