Down at the Dock: Derelict Vessels and Green Boating Solutions

Photo by Alan Wilson

Recreational boating is an incredibly attractive pastime - who wouldn’t be attracted to time spent out on the water with family and friends?  Unfortunately, those who have never experienced the reality of owning a boat are more susceptible to being lured into taking a boat that’s offered for free or buying one on the cheap, and the results aren’t always good. Boaters know what I mean when I say that owning a boat is never cheap – in time or money – and the one in my yard in need of some serious TLC is a testament to that!

Unfortunately, if boat upkeep and the associated costs are not borne by the boat owner, the burden is frequently passed along to the community and the environment when that vessel reaches a problem state. It is only a matter of time before trouble comes along, as untended vessels will certainly end up adrift, washed ashore, or possibly even sunk. Unmaintained boats release fuel and other toxins into the marine environment, putting marine life and habitat at risk, not to mention the danger they pose to mariners and beachgoers and the damage they can cause to shoreline facilities.

The biggest challenge we have in mitigating the impacts of problem vessels is the jurisdictional quagmire that surrounds them. You’ll know what I mean should you ever want to contact the proper authorities to notify them of an incident - there’s a good chance you will be bounced around to various agencies such as the Coast Guard, Transport Canada, the Provincial Emergency Program, the Receiver of Wrecks, the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, the local government, or perhaps even the police. In fact there is such confusion surrounding the issue that BC’s Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations has recently published a very useful 12-page guide, Dealing with Problem Vessels and Structures in BC Waters.

Ryan handing out our Guide to Green Boating
Photo by Michelle Young

The good news is that there are solutions:

• Clean Marine BC is Georgia Strait Alliance’s green boating and marina eco-certification program, and has distributed tens of thousands of our Guide to Green Boating. A clean, well maintained boat is a greener and safer boat, thereby reducing our environmental impacts, as well as helping to ensure that our experience is more enjoyable.
• MP for Nanaimo-Cowichan, Jean Crowder, is proposing legislation designating the Coast Guard as a receiver of wreck and requiring them to take reasonable steps to contact the owner and also to provide for government to make regulations on the removal, disposition or destruction of derelict vessels. The intention is to give the Coast Guard the regulatory power it needs to take action before a derelict vessel becomes a problem.

Bill C-638 is a step in the right direction in dealing with the jurisdictional quagmire surrounding derelict vessels. Please support this bill by writing the Minister of Transportation, Lisa Raitt (lisa.raitt@parl.gc.ca), and by contacting your MP. For more information on Bill C-638, visit http://openparliament.ca/bills/41-2/C-638/ and http://jeancrowder.ndp.ca/derelict-vessels.

It is up to boaters like us to prevent our pastime from becoming someone else’s headache. Let’s keep our boats afloat…Down at the Dock!

Another environmental disaster – how do we say “enough”?

As I read article after article about the recent tailing ponds breach at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine, I am overwhelmed with the facts and the many more questions that the incident has left us

. 

What we know is that 10 billion litres of water and 4.5 million cubic metres of metals-laden fine tailings were discharged into Hazeltine Creek.  We know that this water system is connected to the Fraser River,  one of our most important salmon bearing waterways. We also know that the breach happened after multiple warnings from the Ministry of the Environment about the pond exceeding its permitted height, the most recent warning coming this past May. 

Photo: Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press

What we don’t know is when communities in the area will be able to drink the water nearby.  We also have no idea what the medium and long-term impacts will be, in particular because the incident happened just as salmon are starting to enter the area.  Some say the region may never fully recover.  We don’t know.

But we do know something else - this incident was preventable and that it is guaranteed that similar incidents will happen again.  We know this because when industries are allowed to self- regulate and governments believe that economic growth can only happen one way – at all costs - harm is inevitable.

So what do we, the citizens of this province, do?

As issues of democratic reform and loss of democracy in this country bubble over, it is clear to me that the apathy that Canadians show regarding voting has left our governments with a false sense of empowerment.  Contrary to what Canadians say they want, they are deregulating our environmental protection laws and giving over environmental stewardship over to industry whose primary driver is profit, not protection. 

With every provincial and federal election that passes, fewer and fewer of us vote.  We have abrogated our right, and in my opinion, our duty to vote and take part in the most important opportunity we have to influence what kind of country we want to live in.  But it’s important to note, it isn’t our only opportunity. They are our governments, they work for us and that accountability has to be kept up not just at election time but every day in between. If we don’t like the way they protect our environment, we must let them know. 

Many of us our heartbroken about the Mount Polley incident, devastated by what we know will be impacts on our waters, salmon and other wildlife – for years to come.  But we can’t stop at hand-wringing.  If we want accountability, we must demand it.  If we want better environmental protection laws, monitoring and enforcement, we must ask for it.  

Please contact your MLA or MP and let them know that “enough is enough”.  We did not elect industry to protect our air and water, we elected our government and they must do their job.

We must raise our voices – because if we don’t, in a few weeks when this disaster fades from the headlines, things will go back to the new normal, where projects are approved without proper environmental assessment and monitoring of laws are left to this system which puts industry in charge.  And then, it’s just a matter of time before our communities, our environment and our economy pay another ultimate price. 

I say “enough”.

Orcas in trouble: gov’t plan for inaction

Ever since early 2012 when the federal court made its final ruling mandating that the federal government protect resident orcas critical habitat, we’ve been waiting for the action plan that would clearly lay out how we would act to protect our endangered southern resident orcas and their habitat.

With the release last month of the draft orca action plan by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), it seems we’ll have to wait longer – and this is a tragedy in the making.

“Vague and inadequate” are the terms you’ll see over and over again in our joint submission to DFO, ably put together by our colleagues at Ecojustice on behalf of Georgia Strait Alliance, David Suzuki Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation and Wilderness Committee.

Photo: Lance Barrett-Lennard

Coming in at 21 pages, this so called ‘action plan’ is filled with language such as “considering action”, ”investigating” and “communicating”, all seemingly intended to make it look like something is being done while the major threats to orcas remain unabated. 

We firmly believe that research is essential, but an ‘action plan’ which is vague, with unspecific timelines and where the responsibility for many tasks is left to some unnamed agency in unacceptable.   We can tell you, someone named “other” is going to be very busy over the next 5 – 10 years!   What that means is the orca will continue to remain protected on paper alone - but in our local waters the dangers to their survival go unanswered and those whose responsibility it is to act are shirking their responsibility. 

According to the recovery strategy developed for both northern and southern resident orcas, these are the goals we need to reach in order for these whales to survive:

1.      Ensure that Resident Killer Whales have an adequate and accessible food supply to allow recovery;

2.      Ensure that chemical and biological pollutants do not prevent the recovery of Resident Killer Whale populations;

3.      Ensure that disturbance from human activities does not prevent the recovery of Resident Killer Whales;

4.      Protect critical habitat for Resident Killer Whales and identify additional areas for critical habitat designation and protection

As we state in our formal submission: “Unfortunately, while the Draft Action Plan identifies some important research projects, it generally fails to identify concrete actions or measures that will ensure any specific outcomes on the ground.”

Here are just a few of many incredible gaps in the “action plan”:       

• In light of the many projects being proposed for the Strait, there is no mention in the action plan about “shipping” or “tankers” nor any proposed action on mitigating oil spill impact. The orca recovery strategy clearly lays out these issues as being of critical concern, yet the action plan remains silent. 

• Research is a primary focus of this plan but with the slashing of research at the federal level, who is left to do it?  Notably, the closure of the lab led by world renowned marine mammal toxicologist Dr. Peter Ross has left the possibility of doing much of research listed as questionable.  So even in this ‘inaction plan’, the tasks identified are unlikely to occur as no one is responsible and no one is accountable

Again from our submission: “Unfortunately, apart from reiterating these four broad recovery objectives, in many other respects the Draft Action Plan is not based on the Recovery Strategy as is required.”

The orca recovery strategy laid out what needed to be done and in the last 2 ½ years, DFO has developed a plan that does not build on that strategy but instead asks us to wait – but the orcas can’t wait.

So what now? In our submission, we have made it clear to DFO that we demand better and we’ve laid out specific ways they can do that.  Also, we stated that we are willing to work with them to make this plan stronger because we believe it can be.

Orcas are not only a critical part of our local ecosystem but they are an integral part of our culture, society and economy – and we are committed to making their recovery a reality.

Your support has helped us be at the table to fight for the orcas for more than decade and we hope we can count on you as we continue to be the orcas voice at this important time because it seems from what we’ve read, the fight isn’t over.

The greenest city… or the biggest coal exporter in North America?

Port Metro Vancouver is currently considering an application from Fraser Surrey Docks to build a coal facility at its terminal in Surrey, designed to handle coal from United States producers who are struggling to find export routes south of the border. 

When complete, the coal terminal would be responsible for about 17 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – more than a quarter of BC’s total annual emissions. Combined with an already approved expansion at the Neptune facilities in North Vancouver and recent upgrades at Delta’s Westshore Terminal, a green light for Fraser Surrey Docks would make Metro Vancouver the biggest coal exporter in North America. Pretty hard to reconcile with the vision many of us share for Vancouver: a clean, healthy and beautiful city and a global environmental leader.

The Fraser Surrey Docks project will directly threaten the health of our communities with coal dust and diesel particulates from the coal trains and barges that will transport the coal through the Lower Mainland, and past the Sechelt Peninsula, the East coast of Vancouver Island, Denman, Hornby and Lasqueti Islands, on its way to a new coal transfer facility on Texada Island.

The project has faced significant opposition from concerned citizens, local governments, health authorities and environmental groups – about both the impacts of the proposal itself, and the flaws in Port Metro Vancouver’s review of it. Find out more about Georgia Strait Alliance’s concerns in our letter to the Port. 

Port Metro Vancouver has given the public 30 days to comment on the Fraser Surrey Docks environmental impact assessment, and we are urging people to use this opportunity to share their concerns about the project.

Together with our partners at the Wilderness Committee, we've created a handy letter-writing tool for you to use. Please take action now, and ask Port Metro Vancouver to say no to the Fraser Surrey Docks proposal, for the sake our climate and our communities.

Secondary Treatment of Wastewater: is it Good Enough?

Hi everyone, hope you all enjoyed a great semi-rainy weekend! I spent the weekend working alone at two Farmers' Markets, Saturday in Errington and Sunday in Cedar. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, I was amazed at how many people dropped by, and leaving the kids' activities in the car meant I was able to focus more on having some in-depth conversations with interested people. And boy, did I have some good conversations! I talked with one man for almost an hour about various conservation issues we’re working on. He supported the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline for economic reasons (but thought we should refine the oil here instead of sending it overseas to be refined, thereby further increasing our economy). His opinion was that there are many more immediate things to be worried about in the Georgia Strait. His primary concern, which we spent most of our time talking about, was sewage treatment.

Canada has always been way behind in their sewage treatment regulations. It was only last

Iona WWTP in Richmond (Photo by Georgia Strait Alliance)

year that the Federal Government finally made it mandatory to upgrade sewage treatment to the secondary level in Canada (except for small northern communities). Before that, many plants were only employing primary wastewater treatment, and were as a result likely in violation of the Fisheries Act's section which does not allow the discharge of deleterious (dangerous) substances into fish bearing waters. Wastewater, the stuff that is dumped down our toilets, sinks, and bathtubs as well as the water that drains out of our washing machines, dishwashers, and storm drains, now needs to be treated at the secondary level before it is reintroduced to the environment. Plants have been given until 2020, 2030, or 2040 to make the necessary upgrades to their systems, depending on the facility's risk (high, medium, or low, respectively). All wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) perform preliminary wastewater treatment or screening, or removing the “lumps.” In most plants today, the wastewater is left to settle, so heavy things will sink and can be removed, while liquids such as cooking oils (which are less dense than water) will rest on top and can be skimmed off. This is primary treatment, and the collected “sludge” can be processed to extract energy that can be used to offset local fossil fuel use. For all WWTPs in Canada, secondary treatment is now a mandatory upgrade. This is done mostly by bacteria and other micro-organisms, which break down 85-90% of the dissolved and suspended solids, including most pathogens, toxic chemicals such as pesticides, and heavy metals. The bacteria are then removed with the sludge they produce and the wastewater is either released back to the environment or further treated. Tertiary treatment, only used in a few cities such as Calgary (which receives an A+ on the 2004 National Sewage Report Card), removes select substances such as ammonia, phosphorous, nitrogen, and heavy metals to a further degree using advanced filtration methods, UV sterilization, and reverse osmosis.

Photo by Georgia Strait Alliance

As per the sewage treatment upgrades required for all WWTPs Canada-wide, the CRD (Victoria) and Lions Gate (in North Vancouver) WWTPs must be upgraded to perform secondary wastewater treatment by 2020, and the Iona plant (in Richmond) must perform these changes by 2030. Well that's great, but why has it taken so long? It’s unfortunate that for decades BC lagged behind the rest of the provinces in moving its communities to secondary treatment. Though they showed leadership in ordering Victoria to treat its sewage in 2006, it’s the federal laws that have moved BC forward. In Saskatchewan, secondary treatment has been the law for all WWTPs since 2002. In fact, 94% of the sewered population in the Prairies and Ontario had secondary or tertiary treatment in 1999. Only 63% of BC’s population did at that time. Victoria remains the only treatment plant in Canada to not even perform primary wastewater treatment, but will thankfully be upgraded to secondary treatment in the near future. So why has it taken BC so long to upgrade their prehistoric WWTPs? During our conversation, we hypothesized that it may simply be because residents of the mid-country provinces can physically see the effects of insufficient wastewater treatment. Treated wastewater goes directly into Canada’s rivers and lakes, almost all of which are accessible. Meanwhile, British Columbia's WWTPs dump their wastewater into the surrounding ocean and other large bodies of water, where a lot of the waste can sink to depths that only recreational divers can see, or can be carried off by oceanic currents and tides to less populated areas. Besides, the ocean is a vast body of water that couldn't possibly be affected by something so small in comparison. Could it?

I don’t even have the heart to go into the details of what this sewage does to the environment and the organisms that have the misfortune of living near the outfalls. There are documents online such as the National Sewage Report Card from 2004 and TBuck Suzuki’s “Hidden Killer” that summarize these threats thoroughly. What I will say is that while secondary treatment removes most of the dangerous compounds in wastewater, it doesn’t remove all of the hormones, toxic chemicals (like pesticides), pathogens, and heavy metals. It also doesn't remove all the organic nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous, which can be a food source for photosynthetic micro-organisms and can cause massive algal blooms (creating an anoxic environment below it, a problem all its own). While it is a great minimum standard, an area as vulnerable as the Georgia Strait ecosystem deserves to be protected from these compounds, and WWTPs that dump their wastewater into this area should try to upgrade to tertiary treatment as soon as they can. All that estrogen from birth control pills that’s being flushed down toilets? It’s feminizing male fish. And BC’s resident Orca population is considered one of the most toxic animal populations on the planet because of all the hazardous substances (such as PCBs and mercury, both rather effectively removed by secondary treatment) they accumulate from the poisoned fish they eat. Sewage isn't the only source of this contamination but it's one we can stop. So even though we are making a change to improve the quality of the Strait’s water, we still can reach further to protect these waters.

It’s okay, here’s the silver lining! There are things you can do!

      - Stop or limit the use of toxic cleaning products in your house (from glass cleaner to laundry detergent to dishwasher soap), there are safer alternatives for your family and the environment.

      - Never flush old medications down the toilet, any pharmacy will take them and dispose of them properly free of charge.

      - Avoid getting oil, anti-freeze fluids, and soaps in storm drains.

      - Feminine hygiene products should never be flushed; really nothing except toilet paper and the obvious should go in your toilet. Besides, it could clog your pipes (ew.).
- Tell your friends and family about ways they can help do their part. If everyone made little changes to what went down their drains, we'd have a huge and positive result!

Have a look at the 2004 National Sewage Report Card and the Government of Canada’s new Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations (careful, it’s wordy) for a ton of information about Canada’s sewage treatment methods. I hope you enjoyed my rant; hopefully Megan will write a happier blog post next week!

- Mikaela

Newcomer's View of Our Ocean Home

Over the summer, we have the pleasure of having Bryan Nordley join us as our Communications Assistant.  Here, he shares with us some of his thoughts on our oceans.

***

Photo: Bryan Nordley

The ocean is the heart beat of our planet. We depend on it for recreation, for food and for our economy. Human life as we know it could not survive without these vast, majestic and mysterious waters that surround and divide our continents.  Our reliance and dependence however places great stress upon the complex ecological systems and species which inhabit the sea. As the human population increases and nations around the world continue to industrialize the world’s oceans will face unprecedented stress and challenges to their ecological well-being. 

Unlike most organisms in the world, humans don’t live symbiotically with their environment, including the ocean, and the problems we create are numerous.  Pollution in particular is a critical problem.  One would think humanity would find occurrences like the Great Pacific garbage patch to be unacceptable yet this offensive toxic bed of floating trash grows each year and is estimated to be anywhere from 270,000 sq mi to 5,800,000 sq mi. In larger terms the estimate is 0.41-8% the size of the Pacific Ocean.

Elsewhere marine traffic such as containers ships and tankers continue to pollute the air and water across our oceans leaving suspended particles in the water.

Furthermore our release of C0² carbon emissions, which contribute to global climate change, actually cycles into our oceans increasing acidification. Ocean acidification critically affects species with carbonate shells, like molluscs by impacting their ability to create their shells and survive, and this has a big impacts on ocean ecosystems as many marine species depend on these species for food.  Eventually this problem alone will directly cost coastal nations' economies with losses in the billions of dollars. The problem will only be compounded with industrialization of Asia and the global south, whose economies are also most at risk as they rely heavily  on our oceans as a food source for their growing populations (the first article talks about economic impact). These are only a few problems, which plague our seas.

Here in Vancouver, we are surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and the ocean, home to an abundance of marine wildlife.  In my opinion, it is a coexistence unlike any other major city in North America.  Because we are immersed in such beauty, the larger man made problems of our oceans may seem

Photo: Bryan Nordley

 far away. Those who grew up here may not be aware of the rest of world’s oceanic perils but this is often something we take for granted.  Vancouver’s environmental awareness has spawned both from community and political efforts that emerged from dedicated and concerned citizens of British Columbia.  British Columbia’s climate of environmentalism is one of the factors that drives people to come, experience and live here. There are very few places in North America where is it safe and verifiable to swim in a bay with such a spectacular backdrop of a skyline.  Beaches in Vancouver Harbour are regularly safe to swim in, with little to no beach closures throughout the summer. This is in stark contrast to beaches in Los Angeles, with famous destinations like Santa Monica Pier Beach closed 57% of last years season.

Our stewardship as a community  is what makes this place unique and it’s environment so awe-inspiring.  British Columbians love the relative pristine waters of their Georgia Strait, and this unprecedented environment is what drew people like me to want to live here from thousands of miles away. Yet the Strait of Georgia faces many threats like the world at large such as increased tanker traffic and ocean acidification.

But it is the community of advocacy and awareness which helps maintain the health of our waters and protect against such increasing threats.  And this is why programs like Georgia Strait Alliance's Stewards of the Strait are vital to maintaining the health of our waters and their ecosystem as well as a community of awareness. 

We may not be able to fight against all the greater oceanic problems of our world but we can make changes where we live at the grass roots.  Stewards of the Strait's pledge system of simple everyday practical steps can help us do our small but important part in protecting  species and ecosystem against harm.  Easing the damage that greater issues may place on them and our environment might not seem like much but a water recreational and beach city constantly interacts with its oceanic environment and if every person does their small part, together as community, we can maintain the health our inland sea, continue to set an example for other oceanic communities and in the process protect our environment for generations to come. 

Pipelines and Public Relations

"Information Session". Now isn't that a friendly, non threatening term. And indeed that's exactly what the Kinder Morgan Information sessions on their proposed new pipeline to bring Alberta Tar Sands crude to the coast to load onto tankers were for the most part.  These are almost over, with just one left in this region on Salt Spring Island in January.

 I attended the one in Nanaimo and saw nothing but overt good cheer and intentions from the full spectrum of opinions that we all know this project has. Apparently there were some minor kefuffles in Hope and Victoria but not having been there I can't give a perspective. Kinder Morgan seems to know they cannot just ram this project through as perhaps once was the case and have developed a strategy that is all about public relations at this stage.

When I got there quite a few people had already gathered awaiting entry. When the doors opened I was one of the first in and was asked if I wanted to sign in. I presented my card and asked if I could speak to the main PR person expecting someone from Vancouver or Calgary. I was surprised to find they actually have someone based in Victoria. This means they are taking this PR stuff very seriously.

Lots of opposition at the Nanimo info session

Looking around the room the essence of slick PR professionalism was everywhere. From the many members of the young fresh faced PR team to the few experienced company, port and response representatives. The comprehensive, very professional looking information signage covering almost every conceivable aspect of the project including the inevitable environmental and socioeconomic concerns of course and the general layout of the room which allowed for the one-on-one discussion method to be most effective.Having been a somewhat serious student of the martial arts for almost 30 years I recognize this strategy of drawing your opponent in.

However a large number of the folks who were there seemed to be highly informed about the project already and were not letting themselves be drawn in. In fact many stayed outside the room singing songs and handing out  information from a different perspective. There were all sorts of signs in opposition and many blue drops (a sign of solidarity for clean water).



I let myself be drawn in order to tell the main PR guy very clearly and firmly that Georgia Strait Alliance does not support this project or any that would increase the risk of a major spill in our sensitive waters or significantly contribute to climate change. The environmental, social and economic consequences are just not worth any risk! Prepared to extract myself from a conversation geared to convince me to the merits of the project if necessary, I was pleased but not overly surprised to be told that he would not try to dissuade us from our position (another tactic I'm familiar with).

What I was surprised at however was a cheerful, though perhaps unintended, admission that there was really no point in me trying to convince him of our position either. I understand some of these folks are not just about growth or short term gain and they actually believe this is a good project, but I guess I'd call that a a bit of a PR disaster.
I thought they wanted to hear from us. Well maybe they do but they certainly didn't seem to want to actually listen.

In martial arts, a strategy following the drawing in, is a reversal of your opponent's energy to use it against them. I'm curious if Kinder Morgan will try this next? And will it work if they cannot actually draw people in? Another option of course would be to actually listen to the community concerns, in fact be part of the community - not opponents at all, and be prepared to pull out of the project if it is not supported, rather than forge ahead regardless.

Tankers, Thanks and Banks

Adapted from original publication on smallchangefund Blog

Oil tankers shipping out of Vancouver Harbour were really not paid much attention to by the general public a couple of years ago, and maybe even just a year ago. The increase seen over the last decade did not get much publicity and the fact that tankers of some form or another have been using our waterways since the turn of the last century seemed to make it less threatening. Thanks to a perfect storm of different but colliding events, all that is rapidly changing. Certainly all the publicity about dirty tar sands oil has been part of it and Enbridge’s beleaguered Northern Gateway Pipeline project, the climate change debate, Keystone XL pipeline kerfuffle in the US and the Kalamazoo pipeline spill in Michigan. 

However even before Kinder Morgan’s announcement earlier this year of intentions to build a second pipeline to Vancouver from the tar sands, Georgia Strait Alliance (GSA) and a few others were starting to be concerned about the steady but seemingly silent, increase in tanker traffic through Burrard Inlet and the ecologically sensitive Salish Sea. After some extensive research we published the first version of our citizen's guide to tankers, oil spills and the risks to our region late last year and we have updated it recently to reflect the current situation.

Why would GSA be concerned about a few tankers traveling our waters when there are so many other issues facing this fantastic body of water we work to protect? Well, when I give presentations I explain that what is happening to Georgia Strait is like the death by a thousand cuts. Each travesty of pollution or inappropriate development that befalls it is cumulative and at some stage, if enough is done, Georgia Strait would eventually become like so many other devastated bodies of water. That being said, the damage that is currently being done, can (at least partially) be undone or stopped, and over the years we have lead many projects which have helped restore parts of Georgia Strait or served to protect it.  We believe our work and that of others will save Georgia Strait as a place of much natural beauty and biological diversity.

That, however, would all change if we have a major oil spill here and anything that increases the likelihood of that happening is of real concern to us.  If we have a catastrophic spill here we simply do not have the capability or resources to stop the irreparable damage to the ecology, economy and social fabric of this region. It would be a disaster in the real meaning of the word. Also of considerable concern to us is the fact that our communities have not been given any real opportunity to say if they are willing to take the risks of tar sands crude being shipped through our waters. That is something we are working toward on a number of different levels from our petition  and information on our website and in print to our liaison and email listserve hosting with other groups working on this issue and contribution to reports to meeting with Industry representatives.  

To do that we need funding, and this is the point we’d really like to thank our current funders including Patagonia, MEC and smallchangefund for all their support and promotion and all the wonderful donors who are contributing to our work. Thanks for going to your banks to help make our community voice on crude oil tankers a strong one. If you have not had a chance to contribute yet please do so on our website or by calling our office at 250-753-3459.

Many thanks!

Leadership where it matters most

I’m feeling pretty impressed with our local politicians these days. What an amazingly diverse array of dedicated caring people have been chosen by the people of British Columbia to represent them where it matters most – at the local level. I was fortunate to meet a number of them at The Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) convention, which happens every year.  This is when politicians and staff from the varied and scattered municipalities and regional governments around the province come together to consider issues which can and should be dealt with province-wide. They provide a very powerful message to the provincial government.

The UBCM is hosted by different communities around the province, and this year was Vancouver Island’s turn. On the shore of Georgia Strait, in the lovely city of Victoria, hundreds gathered with colleagues, representatives of the provincial government and other groups (like GSA!) to share stories and challenges and create plans for a better future.



GSA was there, connecting with old friends and making new, delighting in the interest and concern for the health of our beautiful marine environment, and building the relationships that help us be a voice for the Strait.  This year, we educated local leaders about the Southern Strait of Georgia National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA), among other issues, commiserated about the gutting of environmental protection at the federal level, and celebrated the passing of the resolution regarding oil tankers on our coast, which calls on the province to ‘use whatever legislative and administrative means that are available to stop the expansion of oil tanker traffic through BC coastal waters.’



Georgia Strait protected from tanker increase by local politicians

 It was a narrow victory, but as we’re learning from the press, the more people who understand the threats of increased tanker traffic, the more people who are opposed. It’s simply a matter of education and letting our friends and neighbours know that the risks are aren’t worth the rewards and more investment in fossil fuel infrastructure is simply the wrong way to go. (See our handy tanker info kit)

I was also excited to note that several resolutions regarding issues that have been of concern to GSA, were carried by large margins. These included recommendations to maintain staffing levels of the Coast Guard, holding shippers of dangerous cargo responsible before a spill takes place and a ‘call upon the Government of Canada to develop revised Fisheries Act policies and regulations in collaboration with all stakeholders, specifically including local governments through the UBCM and Federation of Canadian Municipalities, to ensure changes address municipal concerns while strengthening environmental protection for our watercourses.’ 

The full text of all resolutions presented at the UBCM annual convention can be seen at: UBCM. It was a pleasure to spend time in the company of so many people from around the province who care so deeply about a healthy, sustainable future.  

Time to Turn the Tide on Fossil Fuels

Tammy, Rebecca and Georgia ( mermaid) at the GSA booth.

When it comes to a possible increase in fossil fuel oil tanker traffic in the Georgia Strait– whether in the form of the deadly tar sands bitumen or other forms of fossil fuels, we find ourselves in a debate of values.  Do we value our environment enough to turn the tide and live with less fossil fuel - and less products made from them?  Do we value our natural capital enough that we as societies and individuals will make the changes necessary to support this transition?  

We say, YES - and the sooner we get started on a full public debate about how we can transition our society away from carbon-based fossil fuels the better.  We at GSA are excited to be a part of this change and we have been advocating for individual and collective solutions for this region’s marine environment for over 20 years.  Recognizing that the transition away from fossil fuels will take some time, we need to ensure that current fossil fuel and crude oil tanker traffic in Georgia Strait has the absolute least possible risk of spills of any size and that we in BC have the capacity to respond should one occur.

Shane Philips play at No Tankers Ball

This weekend GSA attended the No Tankers Ball music festival at Providence Farm in Duncan -  a celebration of the community of people who have stood up for Canada's West Coast to keep it pristine, alive and tanker free.  The small and interconnected community of the Northwest Coast has come together in its unity of opposing the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker traffic and we acknowledge and applaud their activism.  

While Georgia Strait Alliance focuses our attention on ensuring there are is no increase in crude oil tanker traffic in the Georgia Strait, no tankers carrying diluted tar sands bitumen and no new infrastructure that materially increases tanker traffic carrying diluted bitumen in Georgia Strait, we are inspired and moved by the work of our coastal neighbours and allied groups.  We joined with them to spread our local message, to celebrate the incredible efforts being made to keep this area pristine - and to dance!

People made signs at the event.

It was a lovely event, with the sun coming out just as we got our tent set up - ahhh - nothing like a sunny September day!  GSA staff and volunteers who attended the event Donna, Tammy, Rebecca, and myself, all had a wonderful time speaking with the people who came by our tent!

 We handed out our Oil Tankers in the Strait of Georgia Fact Sheet, gathered lots of signatures on our petition, gave out free GSA memberships, as well as having a free draw for a package of home-made cleaning products!  

We made a sign too!

We listened to wonderful music - Clover Point Drifters, Shane Philip, Shred Kelly, Kytami, and Kikeyambay!  We heard inspiring words from First Nations leaders, including Ta'Kaiya Blaney – just 11 years old, she had returned from speaking at the Rio Earth Summit and has won many awards and accolades  for eloquently speaking about the rights and power of all people to make positive change.  We also heard from Guujaaw, the powerful President of the Haida Nation about his communities' work to take back the environment from corporate and government interests, via Skype link.  

Every one of us can make a difference – for our beautiful coastal home and for future generations.  We can make our voices heard.  Sign up for our E-newsletter Strait Up for more information.