Fugitive fish from a collapsed salmon farm in Washington State are showing up in the waters off Campbell River, Tofino, Sechelt and Saanich, but, last week, delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention side-stepped a debate on salmon farm licensing.

Instead, an emergency resolution from the Victoria council asking the province to deny any more open-net aquaculture permits and to phase out existing open-net operations in favour of land-based pens, was referred to the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities for further discussion.

The Victoria resolution, which also called for a transition plan for workers and adequate consultation with Indigenous governments, said the proliferation of open-net fish farms, stocked with Atlantic salmon, threatens local waterways and wild fish “undermining the economic, social and ecological wellbeing of local communities.”

Opponents of salmon farms fear that Atlantic salmon, packed into pens open to the ocean, spread diseases and sea lice to wild stocks. Escaped farmed Atlantic salmon from the Washington State fish farm, owned and operated by Cooke Aquaculture, have traveled as far as 250 kilometres over the last month. 

Between 2011 and 2017 there have been only three confirmed reports of Atlantic salmon off the B.C. coast, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. As the CBC reports, since August 19 the federal government has received reports of 40 sightings.

Ban on New #FishFarm Permits Sidelined as Escaped US #FarmedSalmon Increase in BC Waters https://t.co/sMMEN4XlUe @JeremyLoveday #bcpoli

— DeSmog Canada (@DeSmogCanada) October 1, 2017

First Nations-led protests against salmon farms are continuing at two Marine Harvest fish farms off north-east Vancouver Island and the resolution points out that many fish farms were built in Indigenous territories, without consultation “undermining the shared objective of reconciliation and respectful relations between indigenous and non-indigenous governments.”

Victoria Councillor Jeremy Loveday was hoping the emphasis on finding alternatives for fish farm workers and the shock value of Atlantic salmon turning up in communities around the B.C. coast would be enough to gain the support of delegates.

“In my opinion this is not a satisfactory result. I would have liked to have had a discussion on the floor at UBCM,” Loveday told DeSmog Canada.

“I thought that, after the accident, people would be more willing to have this discussion and put their foot down and say enough is enough,” he said.

But, even though it seems the future of wild fish is at stake and the resolution suggested a job transition plan, some delegates, from municipalities with open net fish farms in their area, worried about job loss, Loveday said.

“There was a sentiment within UBCM delegates that they weren’t supportive of the motion at this time… Some are just opposed and others want more time for discussion,” he said.

Controversy over open-net fish farming has raged for more than three decades, with a resolution similar to the Victoria motion endorsed by UBCM in 2006, but concerns reached a new peak this summer.

In addition to the escape of an estimated 165,000 Atlantic salmon from the Puget Sound farm, a video released to DeSmog Canada, showed blind, diseased and deformed fish in B.C. fish pens.

The video was shot by Ernest Alfred, a traditional leader from the ‘Namgis, Tlowitsis and Mamalilikulla First Nations, who is now leading protests at the farms on Swanson and Midsummer islands.

“We don’t want fish farms in our territory and we’re going to sit here until they’re all gone,” said Alfred.

On Thursday the group Fish Farms Out Now! occupied the offices of Agriculture Minister Lana Popham while members of the Friends of Clayoquot Sound occupied the office of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation Minister Scott Fraser to put pressure on the provincial government to remove open-pen fish farms from territories where no free, prior and informed consent has been given.

The occupations are the first in a series of escalating actions, said a news release from the groups.

Popham said in a statement that she is committed to working with First Nations, the aquaculture industry and Fisheries and Oceans Canada “to ensure B.C.’s aquaculture sector is environmentally sustainable and respects First Nations rights while continuing to provide good jobs for British Columbians.”

In a Facebook posting Popham said the aquaculture file is complicated.

“In the next couple of weeks myself and the Premier will be sitting down with First Nations to have a government to government discussion — the beginning of a new relationship,” she wrote.

“I have also requested that federal Fisheries Minister (Dominic) LeBlanc and the industry join us at another meeting as soon as possible.”

The last new permits for fish farms in B.C. were approved in 2015 and a committee looking at wild salmon and the aquaculture industry is expected to submit a report to Popham by the end of November.

Image: Farmed salmon in a B.C. fish pen. Photo: Courtesy of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Tamo Campos.

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The mayors of Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, City of North Vancouver, Victoria, Squamish and Bowen Island have declared their “non-confidence” in the National Energy Board’s (NEB) review of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and are calling on the federal government to put the current process on hold until a full public hearing process is re-instated.

“It has become apparent that the NEB process does not constitute a ‘public hearing’ and is completely inadequate to assess the health and safety risks of a proposed pipeline through major metropolitan areas, and the potential risks of shipping bitumen oil to Burnaby and through Burrard Inlet, the Salish Sea, and along the coastline of British Columbia,” the mayors write in their declaration.

The mayors also call upon the Government of British Columbia to re-assert its role in environmental assessment and to establish a provincial process, including public hearings, to assess the Trans Mountain proposal.

If built, the Trans Mountain pipeline system would transport more than 890,000 barrels a day of primarily diluted bitumen from the Alberta oilsands to B.C.’s west coast. Most of this heavy oil is destined for Westridge dock in Burnaby, where it would be loaded onto 400 oil tankers per year — a six-fold increase from current oil tanker traffic.

“The current hearing process does not allow for consideration of some of the most damaging aspects of the proposal — the inadequacy of emergency plans; the potential for marine oil spills; the effects of the project on climate change, and the threat it poses to our local economy,” says Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “We want to demonstrate to our residents and businesses that we are taking the potential risks seriously, and we want to work together with other municipalities in the region to protect our economy, our environment and our people.”

The mayors say the elimination of oral cross-examination from the hearing process has rendered the process inadequate. Without oral cross-examination, the municipalities have been forced to submit their questions in writing and wait on written responses back from Kinder Morgan. 

“The proponent has failed to answer the majority of questions submitted by municipalities and other intervenors,” the mayors write in their declaration. “Because of the inadequacies inherent to the review process, hundreds of questions critical to public safety and environmental impacts remain unanswered.”

The declaration continues: “We have serious concerns that the current NEB panel is neither independent from the oil industry proponents nor ready or able to assess the ‘public interest’ of British Columbians. It is no longer a credible process from either a scientific evidentiary basis, nor from a public policy and public interest perspective.”

 “We know that our concerns are shared by communities throughout the province,” says Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan. “This flawed hearing process disallows review of aspects of the proposal that could cause the most significant damage. It is critical for this project — and for all projects that can harm communities and the environment — that we have federal review processes that are rigorous and transparent.”

"The City of Victoria is concerned about the impact of increased tanker traffic on our ecology and our economy,” says Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. “We're happy to stand with other municipalities to request a fair and rigorous process to ensure that both are safeguarded for the long term.”

Resolutions calling National Energy Board's review process of Kinder Morgan’s proposal inadequate have already been passed by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (September 2014) and the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (March 2015).

The province of British Columbia has also taken issue with the NEB process, particularly with regard to its failure to compel Kinder Morgan to release its oil spill response plans in B.C. — while the company releases those very same plans across the border in Washington State.

Photo: Mark Klotz via Flickr

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This is a guest post by Troy Sebastian, special projects coordinator for Ktunaxa Nation Council.

Amid the succulent smells of turkey and spice this Thanksgiving weekend, another season draws near.

In every municipality in British Columbia, lawn signs are popping up like plywood pumpkin patches. Door knocking has begun in earnest and no baby is safe from obligatory photo ops. Hand shakes and promises — the currency of democracy — reign once more.

Every town in the province is gearing up for municipal elections a month from now, except for one — the Jumbo Glacier Mountain Resort Municipality.

The reason is simple: Jumbo is a town without residents.

Jumbo is heavy on bravado and weak on substance. The project is sold as a 6,000-bed resort at the foot of a receding glacier that promises year-round skiing. Yet it is relying on taxpayer dollars to keep afloat. What Jumbo does have is the limitless support of the province in every request imaginable.

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During the past five years, the province has:

• Extended the Environmental Assessment Certificate (2009)
• Approved the project (2012)
• Amended the Local Government Act to allow the creation of Jumbo municipality (2012)
• Established Jumbo Glacier Resort Municipality with appointed mayor and council (2013)
• Provided $260,000 in funding. The municipality’s five-year financial plan relies solely on taxpayer dollars, asking for $1 million from the province through to 2018.  

Yet the province has very little to show for its support.

The developer is under significant pressure to demonstrate it has “substantially started” the project. Otherwise its Environmental Assessment Certificate will soon expire. That is why a bridge and a shack are quickly being thrown together in the Jumbo Valley.

Years of government time, money and effort in support of this project have resulted in a taxpayer-funded bridge to nowhere.

When it comes to Jumbo, the red flags are plentiful. For starters, the East Kootenay region is awash in ski resorts that are rarely at full capacity.

The closest municipality, the District of Invermere, has been officially opposed to the project for years.

At the recent Union of British Columbia Municipalities, Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft put forward a motion to oppose provincial funding for towns without residents. It was adopted unanimously.

The Ktunaxa Nation is opposed to the project as the ski resort would be located in a sacred area known as Qat’muk. Jumbo is also critical grizzly bear habitat. The NDP are opposed, as are the Greens. Heck, Hockey Hall of Famer Scott Niedermayer and Olympic Gold medalist Beckie Scott are opposed.  

Olympians, Indians and grizzly bears — oh my!

And yet, the never-ending saga of the Jumbo Glacier resort continues to push the boundaries of expectation, common sense and straight-forward believability.

The province has an opportunity to put this sad cliché where it belongs: in the dustbin of loony B.C. ideas with the likes of Fantasy Gardens, Fast Ferries and the myth of Cascadia.

Should Jumbo Glacier Resorts by found to be in violation of its obligation to substantially start its project by October 12, the province will finally be in line with realities that are impossible to ignore. No one wants it. It does not make sense. It is a costly mess.

However, should the province continue its support for Jumbo, it will embrace a level of absurdity usually reserved for governments of global ridicule. Often, democracies beset with allegations of corruption and graft are known as ‘banana republics.’ It is an unfortunate term that usually refers to countries in the developing world. Bananas do not grow in Jumbo.

The continuing saga of the Jumbo Glacier Resort symbolizes all that is wrong with British Columbia’s politics and economy. Where else but in Jumbo would we find a mayor without residents, a town without homes or a ski hill without investors? Welcome to the Jumbo Republic!

The only people who could truly give thanks for this debacle are the mayor and council of Jumbo who are not encumbered with the weight of democratic accountability. Nor are they required to express their gratitude for the largesse they enjoy at the expense of the citizens of British Columbia.

It is time for Premier Clark to stop the Jumbo Glacier Resort gravy train and bring accountability and sanity to the situation once and for all.

Keep Jumbo wild.

That is something we could all give thanks for.

Photo: Courtesy of Pat Morrow

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