Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Last week the Minister responsible for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Hon. Jonathan Wilkinson, had to announce that only 13% of the sockeye the federal Ministry expected to enter the Fraser River system had actually showed up. It's another chapter in the epic tragedy of the disappearing salmon. They said the sockeye run this year would near 5 million fish. Just slightly more than 600,000 have come home. There is a lot of blame to go around. Seemingly, there are more excuses for the situation than actual fish in the river. Many of the causes they point to are legitimate problems: climate change, marine heat waves, the provincial liquidation of forests and unimpeded destruction of watersheds, and so on. There is also the other problem that we raised with the Minister: they can't count. It's not that the people at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans can't actually count, but rather they are woefully under-resourced so their ability to get accurate numb...

I'm a passionate advocate for protecting agricultural land. And I'm pleased to be able to work with Minister Lana Popham to strengthen the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) Act. But, within the ALC Act is a critical gap with respect to wetlands, water quality (and volume) and protecting our watersheds. Currently the ALC Act allows for, and encourages, draining wetlands to increase access to agricultural production. As droughts increase in frequency and severity we are going to have to protect our watersheds with the same level of vigour as we protect food producing land. There is no question these conflicts test us. I had the opportunity to ask Minster of Agriculture, Hon. Lana Popham, about these issues. Transcript A. Olsen: In recognition of World Water Day last week, I stand to ask about an issue that has long troubled me. For the most part, the (Agricultural Land Reserve) ALR protects arable land from urban sprawl. ...