Regional community leaders from around Howe Sound, along with along with the MP Goldsmith Jones and MLA Sturdy, gathered on Gambier Island. The purpose of the gathering was to shine the light on regional projects, information and ideas covering topics ranging from development to ecology. Bowen’s Adam Taylor, a scuba diver volunteering as a citizen scientist, expressed his gratitude to MLA Jordan Sturdy for extending marine protection to Halkett Bay and the glass sponge reefs of Halkett Provincial Park. On behalf of the working group responsible for the expansion and the Howe Sound Community Forum who supported the expansion he presented a framed image of a diver on the Halkett Biotherm (glass sponge reef.)
Bowen’s former mayor, Bob Turner also took a leading role as a presenter identifying key information regarding the various levels of unique qualities and attributes of the Sound. Turner, in collaboration with the Suzuki foundation, the Squamish Nation and the Vancouver Aquarium, is working on an enterprise called The State of the Sound Project that he introduced at the last Howe Sound Forum. The project pulls together all variety of information about the Sound from science and discovery to residential development.
Bonnie Brokenshire, Sr.Bylaws Officer and Manager of Parks and Environment, attended as an observer for the fourth year in a row. ”It was so important to have first nations at the table. She explains that the first grass roots gathering happened in the early 2000s, with regional representatives and leaders all coming together with shared issues. “It’s a unique model,” she adds. Brokenshire has been involved in resolving challenges with derelict vessels.
MP Goldsmith Jones attended the event but “she wasn’t questioned. It was all about sharing and dialogue about the work happening in the region.”
Surprising to Taylor, was information about “all the projects underway or proposed in the area….There was a presentation with a snapshot of development and the changes underway in the area. The new housing numbers for the region is staggering.” Presenter Kate-Louise Stamford, an Islands Trustee for Gambier, cited 11,000-plus new residential units planned in the Sea to Sky Corridor. “One of the challenges I think communities have on Howe Sound is we’re divided up with jurisdiction structures … It’s such a complex area geographically and politically.” She noted that importance of the fact that the Squamish Nation is throughout the whole of Howe Sound.
Taylor noted that it was good to see leaders looking at the cumulative effect of projects instead of seeing change as disconnected pieces. This sharing of information and resources is the very basis for the gathering that is gaining momentum by the year.
