The sunken sailboat's white mast jutting out of the Mamquam Blind Channel stood as a reminder of an ongoing battle brewing over B.C.'s waterways.
Last week, as pictures of the vessel circulated through social media, District of Squamish staff compiled a list of concerns regarding the status of derelict and live-aboard boats off municipal shorelines.
It's a problem coastal communities throughout B.C. face, municipal real estate manager Neil Plum told council at a special meeting on Tuesday (Nov. 12). It's one that involves multiple layers of government, limited resources and a spider web of legalities and liability, he noted.
Left untouched, the vessels cause pollution and a general nuisance on waters that touch provincial Crown land and municipal foreshores, he said.
There is no cookie-cutter approach to dealing with these things, Plum said.
The issues caught the attention of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM). The provincial body had asked municipalities for comments by Nov. 15.
Collaboration is the key to a successful program, Plum said. While the province owns much of B.C.'s land covered by water and has the same rights over its lands as an owner, the ability to make laws and regulate what goes on in navigable waters is a federal responsibility.
Fee-simple ownership of submerged land comes with a slightly different set of rules. It allows the landowner to exercise rights in the same manner as for land, subject to applicable laws. Local governments have the power to enforce bylaws governing the use of land within their boundaries.
While each level of government has the jurisdiction to make independent decisions, generally federal jurisdiction is viewed as a starting point for addressing concerns about abandoned vessels.
Funding is a challenge for all levels of government, including ours, Plum said.
The Mamquam Blind Channel is a jumble of jurisdictions, Coun. Doug Race told The Chief. The former Interfor site east of the channel has fee-simple ownership, while the district, the Squamish Yacht Club and Marina Estates hold waterlot leases. The federal government oversees the navigable waterway.
The City of Vancouver secured a federal agreement handing the city the authority to look after False Creek, Race said, adding Ottawa doesn't seem open to expanding that privilege to other communities. Bowen Island took on the challenge by securing provincial waterlot leases.
With responsibility comes bills, Coun. Susan Chapelle warned. Whatever authority governs problem vessels should also receive funding, she said.
The topic was raised at the fifth annual Best Practices in Dealing with the Federal Government Conference.
We need to coordinate better, West Vancouver Sea-to-Sky MP John Weston said. There is a willing acknowledgement for the need to coordinate better.
Weston said he would like to see problem vessels come under the department of fisheries' umbrella. There's no perfect answer because of the variability legal, liability, governing bodies he noted.
You have to take into account all the different issues. If you take one out it fails, he said, noting the issue of derelict and problem vessels is not one that lends itself to a narrow focus.
Officials within Weston's riding are writing their concerns in a letter for him to take to Ottawa, he said.
