At the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola, representatives from municipalities in Howe Sound gathered last Friday to discuss common interests and the protection of the waters that connect them. Hosted for the first time by the Squamish Nation, the communities agreed to work together on marine use planning in 2015.
“It was a pretty special event. I would say time will tell if it will be considered historic or not, but it sure felt that way,” said Bowen Island councillor Andrew Stone. “Members of the Squamish Nation gave incredibly impassioned speeches about cooperation and getting back to stewarding marine life in the region.”
Stone says that in light of the recent Tsilqhot’in Supreme Court Decision, the decision to cooperatively with the Squamish Nation is significant.
“The Tsilqhot’in decision gives the Squamish Nation title to Crown Land on their traditional territory when there are plans to develop those lands. Now, the exact parameters may change, as it will play out in court during treaty negotiations,” says Stone. “The idea of the Community Forum is to reach a consensus on the best use of Howe Sound. Chief Gibby Jacob made it clear that ecological concerns for the Sound would be fully accounted for in the Squamish Nation’s decision making on local issues - and he assumed the rest of us would be on board with that. And there was consensus in the room that this was the case.”
Stone says that this planning for Howe Sound also prioritizes sustaining communities financially. That component, he says, will likely result in tourism and eco-tourism becoming the primary focus of the economy in this region.
“The revitalization of aquatic life here only amplifies the view that this is the direction we should be heading,” says Stone.
For councilor Tim Rhodes, last week’s meeting was his first time at the Howe Sound Community Forum.
“I was very impressed by the pragmatic approach of the Squamish Nation,” says Rhodes. “Chief Gibby Jacob asked us to think about why we were there – both in that meeting and living where we live, and that made me consider that in a new way. We have such a remarkable piece of nature so close to Metro Vancouver and as Chief Jacob said in his speech, we need to not only protect but enhance it.”
Rhodes adds that Bowen Island as a community needs to decide whether it wants to be a part of Howe Sound, as opposed to just surrounded by it.
“If we are going to step up and help with this marine planning we need to come to a consensus on what we see as the promise of Howe Sound, and then we need to figure out how to act as a municipality,” says Rhodes. “We need to start looking beyond our own shoreline to our neighbours and to other levels of government, and we will see that we have common interests.”
The representatives from each of the eleven communities who attended last week’s forum will present the resolution on marine planning to their respective councils, and decide from their how to move forward with the marine plan.
