Solutions to the scourge of derelict and abandoned boats and marine debris should be addressed by candidates in the upcoming federal election, says Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chair Lori Pratt.
She and politicians from local governments agreed on that point while meeting with Nanaimo MLA Sheila Malcolmson last Wednesday. The two-hour meeting focused on solutions for preventing derelict boats and garbage from clogging Sunshine Coast waters.
“We really need to make the health of our marine environment more of a key issue as we go into the fall federal election,” Pratt told Coast Reporter after the meeting. “It’s one of the things we discussed and will be discussing more, is bringing it up during the federal election campaign, because it is a federal issue.”
Malcolmson, the NDP government’s special advisor on marine debris and abandoned vessels and a former MP, visited the Sunshine Coast for two days last week as part of her work on a series of recommendations she hopes of have ready later this year.
For Pratt, along with the other local, provincial and federal officials who attended the meeting, the real problem comes down to money and ownership, and that’s where the federal government needs to step up, she said.
“If you take over the ownership of the boat and look at disposing it, so whether or not it’s a non-profit society or whether or not it is a local government, then you take on all the liability that comes with that,” said Pratt. “We need to do better provincially and federally, but especially I think federally.”
At the end of July, a new federal law came into effect that makes it illegal to abandon boats, and a federal boat removal program is underway, which covers 75 per cent of the cost to remove boats, but Pratt said it was “not feasible” for municipal governments to pay the remaining 25 per cent.
A non-profit group, the Dead Boat Disposal Society, recently approached the SCRD about working with them to take advantage of that program to remove boats. But they face the same liability and cost barriers.
Allan Stewart, president of the Pender Harbour and Area Residents Association, also raised the problem of liability and cost when his group met with Malcolmson on Aug 27. They took her on a boat tour of Pender Harbour to show the vessels abandoned in their waters, including two that will be removed thanks to money from the federal program their group applied for.
“One of the biggest issues for us in taking on this challenge is that we had to take on ownership of these vessels… which became a huge liability for us,” Stewart told Coast Reporter. “From an insurance standpoint, it was pretty risky for a small group of individuals and a society to take on, but there was no one else doing it at the time.”
Stewart also raised the spectre of the federal election, but rather than viewing it as an opportunity to get commitments from candidates during the campaign, the election could pose another unique risk. “Given that we’ve now taken ownership of these vessels, if there is a change of government and the program were to cease to exist, we may be left owning a sunken vessel and one up on the beach that’s going to cost $85,000 to get rid of.”
Organizations and individuals can provide input for Malcolmson’s report up to Sept. 6, by writing to [email protected] or visiting gov.bc.ca/MarineDebrisProtection.
