From the decision to phase out open-net salmon farms to buying a controversial oil pipeline, outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau left his mark on British Columbia.
Trudeau, who announced his resignation Monday, is no stranger to the province, having studied at the University of B.C. and served as a teacher in Vancouver from 1999 to 2002.
During his nine-year tenure as prime minister, he passed a range of national policies that will probably be remembered, including a carbon tax and a range of childcare benefits.
In BC, his government will also be remembered for the purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline despite strong opposition and several court cases, as well as for the move to phase out open-net salmon farming.
According to indigenous leaders, Trudeau's BC legacy is mixed, even though he praised the passage of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into law.
As a reaction to Justin Trudeau's pending departure, British Columbians are reflecting on how life has changed after nearly a decade under him. Trudeau has always had close personal and political ties to B.C. Michel Ghoussoub looks at his legacy in the province.
Salmon farm infection
On the West Coast, Trudeau will be remembered for his decision to phase out open-net salmon pens, which has been delayed until 2029 for the transition to land-based closed containment farms.
Environmental groups say open-net salmon farms, which employ more than 5,000 people in B.C., causes disease and depletion of wild salmon stocks.
“I'm grateful that (Trudeau) has set the direction for the transition to open net pen fish farms,” said Bob Chamberlin, who represents more than 100 First Nations in B.C. as president of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance.
“I'm grateful that we finally have a government that fully embraces the importance of wild Pacific salmon to British Columbians, Canadians and First Nations.”
However, the salmon farming industry and some other First Nations say that with more than $1 billion in industry at stake, the transition plan is too rushed.
“We've been told by senior bureaucrats, we're going to put another industry there,” said Isaiah Robinson, deputy chief councilor of the Kitasu Zai'zais Nation on B.C.'s Central Coast.
“And . . . we know reality. Things don't work that way.”
It was a 2019 Liberal election campaign promise: convert all Pacific open-net salmon farms to closed containment systems as wild salmon populations face existential threats. As CBC's Rafferty Baker reports, the feds have announced the ban — it's coming with a significant delay.
Robinson says more than half of his region's economy depends on salmon farming, and while he supports a gradual transition, he doesn't support a total ban on open-net salmon farming.
He and Chamberlin say they are in talks with political leaders of all stripes as Canada heads to elections this year.
Pipeline and Reconciliation
Arguably, one of Trudeau's most tangible legacies in BC was his government's controversial purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which ultimately cost more than $34 billion.
Although Trudeau has passed various policies to combat climate change, Reuben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation sees the government's decision to buy Trans Mountain after then-owner Kinder Morgan threatened to abandon the project as a stain on its legacy.
George, manager of the nation Sacred Trust InitiativeOne who aimed to stop the pipeline recalls a meeting with Trudeau and his cabinet — after several members of George's family voted for the Liberal leader under a promise that he would not build more oil pipelines.
“I said the worst kept secret in Canada is that you're going to approve the pipeline,” George told CBC News. “And that's exactly what he did. Climate change leaders don't build pipelines.”
Heiltsuk First Nation Chief Marilyn Slate praised the Trudeau government for passing a range of policies to support First Nations in BC — including an oil tanker moratorium on the North Coast and an agreement to help protect the Great Bear Sea — as well as signing UNDRIP into law. .
However, the chief said there is still a lot of work to be done in reconciliation Boil water advisory For many communities across Canada there are gaps in child care funding and what she said remains in place. All boil water advisories in BC have raisedAccording to the federal government.
“We continue to experience violations of our land rights, self-determination, sovereignty,” she said. “And this is despite Canada's adoption of UNDRIP and commitment to reconciliation.
“Alongside that commitment was a promise to co-develop laws and policies in alignment with UNRIP, and that has remained unfulfilled, leaving many First Nations to fight for their rights in court.”
