A flotilla of more than 150 vessels came together in a remote part of Howe Sound on June 30 to make a collective statement about protecting the most southerly fjord in North America from heavy industry.
If you were told there was gold in Stanley Park, would you mine Stanley Park? Lions Bay Mayor Brenda Broughton asked over a loudspeaker from the Future of Howe Sound Society flagship vessel, La Feline. Never, never would we mine Stanley Park, and never would we mine McNab Creek certainly not for 12 jobs, certainly not for 1,200 jobs.
The SOS Save Our Sound Mariners' Rendezvous was held north of Gambier Island near the mouth of McNab Creek, where the flotilla formed from noon to 2 p.m., protesting plans by Alberta-based aggregate giant Burnco Rock Products to transform the estuary into a gravel mine.
B.C. has $14 billion worth of tourist dollars and 15 per cent of those dollars are attracted by the corridor we're in, Broughton said. Our film industry, our cruise ship industry, our fishing industry and tourism industry come alive for British Columbia here in Howe Sound.
Tim Turner, a teacher and director for the Sea to Sky Outdoor School of Sustainability, named seven long-established summer camps on Howe Sound and noted that for children from the Lower Mainland, there has been a long tradition of coming to this beautiful breathing place.
The choice facing decision-makers, Turner said, is to embrace either sustainability or stupidity.
Burnco's gravel mine proposal is being reviewed under a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment process, while the company's rezoning application to permit a processing facility is awaiting a decision by the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District board, which has deferred the file until the environmental assessment is complete.
For me what happens will probably be connected to what the Squamish decide, and we're waiting, Turnbull said. We haven't heard that yet.
Randall Lewis, who serves as environmental officer for the Squamish Nation and oversees project negotiation and development, was there to observe.
While the Squamish Nation is continuing to review the Burnco file before making a referral supporting or opposing the project, Lewis said there are definitely concerns about environmental impact.
Although the McNab Creek watershed has been logged, it is starting to grow back and there is some viable habitat being created there viable enough to sustain species of salmon. McNab Creek is coming back to life, he said.
Following the rendezvous, a barbecue was hosted by Burrard and Thunderbird yacht clubs at Ekins Point, on the north side of Gambier Island.
In a brief speech on the dock, West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country member of parliament John Weston called the event a long train coming and really appropriate for Canada Day.
The next day, in an letter to the Future of Howe Sound Society, Weston said he would work with the group to try to secure federal funding for a preliminary study of the Howe Sound area, as a first step toward the group's goal of developing a comprehensive management plan.
This may be the beginning of a long journey, but one well worth travelling together, Weston said in the letter.
