ADAM OLSEN: Chinook conservation, Earth Day, and bold leadership

Last week the federal government announced comprehensive fisheries closure measures as a response to collapsing Chinook stocks. In my work on the salmon file, the conservation conversation is the most controversial. It is what has all the interest groups under the table fighting over the scraps. Each year there are fewer scraps and the situation increasingly dire.

Twelve out of 13 Chinook salmon stocks have been listed as at risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, 7 are endangered. Chinook salmon populations have been in decline for years as a result of a number of factors including habitat destruction, harvest and the effects of global warming. Chinook are also the key food source for the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales.

Do as we say not as we do!

I support these conservation closures. But both the federal and provincial governments must reconcile their ongoing contributions to climate change and ecosystem destruction that have led to the decline of wild salmon. They must go beyond frantic last-minute measures to planning a long-term response to the systemic problems limiting salmon productivity.

If the governments are going to ask fishing communities and First Nations to sacrifice everything to save salmon, then government needs to do the same. B.C.’s wild salmon stocks are crashing because of government policies. For decades the federal government has mismanaged the salmon harvest while the provincial government has mismanaged land-based resource harvesting and now we are paying the consequences.

We have known for years that if we were going to have salmon to harvest that we needed self-control and yet we continued the harvest is if it was the wild west. There is no need for these conservation measures to be dropped on coastal British Columbia just weeks before this fishing season. Rather they should have been rolled out over the past decade. Now we have a situation where losses in the recreational sector range from $300-$800 million, potentially causing 30% of recreational fishing guides, lodges and outfitters to go bankrupt. Obviously, this will devastate our coastal communities. This is completely unacceptable.

Negligent stewards

The harvest is not the only aspect of this industry that government is mismanaging. The threats facing B.C.’s wild salmon are many: climate change, habitat destruction, water contamination, fish farm pollution and chronic over-fishing. Ocean acidification, extreme weather, floods, mega-wildfires, drought and increased water temperatures are all impacts related to global warming. These factors are all exacerbated by government policies that protect and promote fossil fuel development.

Last year, the federal government spent $4.5 billion to buy Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline. This pipeline will increase oil tanker traffic off B.C.’s coast and put the entire ecosystem at risk of a catastrophic diluted bitumen spill. On top of this, in the last few weeks, the B.C. NDP and B.C. Liberals voted together to give LNG Canada a suite of tax breaks and subsidies worth $6 billion, in addition to another billion dollars of tariff support provided by the federal government, enabling a project that has been labelled a “carbon bomb” because of its massive pollution rate.

The level of cognitive dissonance in the decision-making Chambers is remarkable

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Turn the corner

We need to take serious steps to address climate change. We must stop clear cutting watersheds and start investing significant resources in habitat restoration and protection. As I have said repeatedly, good salmon policy is good environmental, social and economic policy. Unfortunately, we see governments scrambling from one poor decision to the next, slapping on band-aid solutions to problems that need thoughtful, long-term thinking.

Many British Columbians spend time on the land and they see what I am writing about. They know that their government is asking them to sacrifice and yet showing little restraint themselves. Government must stop subsidizing the sun-setting oil and gas industries, stop buying pipelines, stop expanding the tar sands, stop increasing fracking, and stop propping up LNG export projects.

Our ecosystems are on the brink of collapse. Short term, reactive decisions from our federal and provincial governments is not good enough. Given the massive challenges we face, we need to look at the big picture. This is about building a sustainable economy and safer future for the province as climate change advances.

What are we going to do?

The picture I am painting here is bleak. Well, the situation is bleak. Now it is about our response. How are we going to respond?

Let's abandon the small-minded belief that we are only a small part of the big whole and thus convincing ourselves there is no point in even trying. We have a big responsibility for our part. So, it is time for a new era of investment in ecosystem resilience.

Call it whatever you want, create a pretty hashtag and regurgitate other peoples catch phrases on Twitter in the evening, but in the day get down to work. Addressing the challenges outlined in this post require bold and courageous leadership. They require a resolve to face the vested interests and not capitulate. It's going to take a patient and loving temperament that can bind people in a common goal. And finally, a vision that clearly sees to the horizon with a willingness to commit everything to design and planning.

Today is Earth Day — a great day to get started. I am ready. Are you?

Adam Olsen ... is a Green Party Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for Saanich North and the Islands. Born in Victoria, BC in 1976, Adam has lived, worked and played his entire life on the Saanich Peninsula. He is a member of Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), where he and his wife, Emily, are raising their two children, Silas and Ella.