COASTAL NEWS
The 2006 Conference of Coastal Communities
After fifteen years of weathering a storm surge of economic, social and environmental change,
BC’s coastal communities gathered at the 2006 Conference of Coastal Communities to ask, “Is the Coast Clear?
“The answer is ‘hell no’,” said Bud Graham, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Oceans and Marine Fisheries Division, in BC’s Ministry of Environment, “and the solutions do not lie with the federal government, the provincial government, coastal communities or the seafood sector. We all need to define an agenda for the seafood industry and move towards achieving it.”
Graham’s comments kicked off the conference’s opening panel, “BC’s Coastal Fisheries”, and set a theme that echoed throughout the two-day conference, held October 5 and 6 at the Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel.
This was the 12th annual conference hosted by BC’s Coastal Community Network, the only forum that represents West Coast regional districts, tribal councils, bands and municipalities, to promote social and economic community well being.
Over a hundred coastal British Columbians came together at the conference to find ways to keep BC’s coastal communities viable and vibrant. They included many of major stakeholders in the coast’s future: representatives of communities, both First Nations and non-aboriginal; the federal and provincial governments; the fishing and forest industry; and non-governmental and academic groups dealing with the environment, climate change and health.
In her opening remarks to the conference, Senator Pat Carney noted how, from an early focus on fisheries, the CCN’s scope had broadened to include forestry, climate change, the perspectives of coastal First Nations, health and health-care delivery, and internet-based community development, all themes of the 2006 conference.
Senator Carney praised the federal Conservative government for recent initiatives that have helped coastal communities, including new funding for small craft harbours and the dedication of a new Coast Guard cutter. But citing increased log exports and the possible cancellation of Industry Canada’s Community Access Program, she also warned delegates that, “There is much more to be done. Both federal and provincial policies are killing our coastal communities.”
Quoting Mr. Justice Gordon Sloan, Senator Carney stressed that “the resources of a region should be used for the social and economic benefit of that region”. The 2006 Conference of Coastal Communities offered stakeholders a clear view of how coastal resources – both human and natural – benefit coastal communities and how a common agenda and a coordinated effort will ensure that BC’s coastal communities thrive.
For more information about the 2006 Conference of Coastal Communities and the CCN, visit www.coastalcommunitynetwork.ca.
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