Recent news from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans left the President of Bowen Island’s Fish and Wildlife Club, Tim Pardee, and streamkeepers across the province both dismayed and confused. Shortly after an announcement by Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc about funding for new Coast Guard stations in BC as part of the government’s Ocean Protection Plan, BC Streamkeepers learned that the Department planned to phase-out the 30 year-old Salmonoids in the Classroom program, and eliminate the Resource Restoration Unit (RRU). Sea-to Sky MP Pamela Goldsmith Jones says she found out about this through the Squamish Chief, and started working immediately to reverse the decision.
“I don’t even like to call them cuts, its more of an egregious mistake,” says Goldsmith-Jones. “I ran for this position because I believe it is our job to restore the cuts made over the course of a decade by the previous government, and ever since I found out I have been on the phone every day with Minister LeBlanc to work on changing this.”
She adds that the decision to make these cuts was not one made by Minister LeBlanc.
“I’ve been speaking with streamkeepers across the province and they all seem to understand this,” says Goldsmith-Jones. “I read an article that says I had to contradict my own government on this matter, but that is not the case. The government did not intend this.”
Pardee says that the Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife Club has joined streamkeeper groups across the province in writing letters to emphasize the importance of the RRU (which offers technical support to streamkeepers in various projects) and the salmonoids program.
“Our work will continue,” says Pardee. “But we do need the experts from the RRU to help design and implement our salmon habitat restoration projects. And all of us at the Fish and Wildlife Club were devastated to hear that our classroom work through the salmonoids program was coming to an end. Fortunately, we’ve been assured that DFO will keep it going for at least another year and I am hopeful that in that time the decision to eliminate that program can be reversed.”
