Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Wild salmon lovers in the province are expressing cautious optimism as Fraser River sockeye returns significantly exceed expectations — something that’s being attributed, in part, to the removal of fish farms in the area. But there’s also frustration from commercial fishers as Fisheries and Oceans Canada, commonly known as DFO, appears unwilling to allow a meaningful commercial fishery after years of closures. “We’ll take the bad when it happens. That’s part of fishing. But when there is a sustainable harvest to be had, we expect to be able to fish, and so do First Nations on this coast,” Guy Johnston, secretary-treasurer of UFAWU-Unifor, the United Fishermen & Allied Worker’s Union, told The Tyee. “You can’t just let it swim by” ..., CLICK HERE for the full story

Since my election to the British Columbia legislature in May 2017, I have been a champion for wild salmon. As I have written often in the pages of this blog, the salmon are not only an important symbol of the abundance of our province, their work of transporting nutrients from the Pacific Ocean back home gives life to all other wildlife in our creeks, streams, rivers, and forests. Salmon are truly one of the great wonders of the world. In early 2019, the provincial and federal governments learned of a landslide at Big Bar, in the Fraser River north of Lillooet, BC. The landslide has had a dramatic impact on BC’s iconic salmon runs. It is just one of many human-caused and natural challenges facing wild Pacific salmon. Landslides on the Fraser are not new. I have heard the ancient stories of how disruptions upriver affected the salmon returns for the W ̱ S Á NE Ć reef net fishing families in the Salish Sea. Landslides of the past have been survivable, but now wild...

We learned last weekend that the federal Liberal Party is committing, in their campaign platform, to phase out open-net fish farms on the British Columbia coast. That is the good news. As a Member of the British Columbia Legislature, I have dedicated a tremendous amount of energy and time advancing wild salmon policy. From disease to sea lice, fish farms are a big problem for wild salmon so I fully support this platform promise. Over the past couple of years, I and my BC Green Caucus colleagues have been demanding the BC NDP act on the promise they made while they were in opposition to get open-net fish farms out of our waters. Promises, promises... Unfortunately, I feel this platform announcement is a desperate fishing trip for votes on the west coast. In the CBC article highlighting this plank, incumbent Liberal MPs from the east coast came out strongly in opposition to the proposal. For decades, fish farms have been allowed to fr...

Ben Parfitt's Narwhal article " Muddied Waters: how clearcut logging is driving a water crisis in B.C.’s interior ", has been open in my web browser for a few weeks. I finally read it on my way home from my recent trip to the Comox Valley. The story is about unsustainable logging practices in watersheds — specifically, watersheds that are providing communities across British Columbia with their drinking water.  Parfitt's story revolves around the rapid decline of the water quality in Peachland. It opens with long-time resident Richard Smith's account of the pristine local water quality when he moved there in 1947. Over the past decade, the situation has changed - drastically. Now Peachland is on the hook for building a $24 million water treatment facility. So how does immaculate water become a murky, turbid mess causing boil water advisories so quickly? As many in the story highlight, the problem is the forestry practices. Despite suppose...