Fisheries advocates recently had an open dialogue with area member of Parliament John Weston as he visited parts of the West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky riding.
On July 9, Weston welcomed fellow MP, biologist and environmentalist Robert Sopuck (Dauphin - Swan River - Marquette) where the MPs met with representatives of the Pacific Salmon Foundation and the Sea to Sky Fisheries Roundtable, on improving local fish habitat.
The Roundtable is a group of avid fisheries experts and advocates that was created more than four years ago and that works closely with Weston.
Sopuck, a member of both the fisheries and environment committees of the House of Commons, met with both groups and heard from fisheries and environment advocates, such as Ruth Simons, executive director of the Future of Howe Sound Society, and a representative of the Sunshine Coast.
"As a member of the standing committee on Fisheries and Oceans, fisheries biologist, passionate angler, and a fisheries conservationist, I was struck by the dedication, creativity, and passion of the angling groups that we met with in British Columbia," said Sopuck.
The two MPs were involved directly in two fisheries-friendly items that were adopted by Federal Budget 2013: a threefold increase in funding for the Pacific Salmon Foundation (to $1 million), and the creation of the Recreational Habitat Partnership Program, spearheaded by Sopuck and supported by Weston, which provides $10 million across Canada to groups like Weston's fisheries advocacy group.
The Roundtable Group through Whistler's Dave Brown recently submitted an application for federal support under the Partnership Program, to improve fisheries habitat in the riding.
"John Weston is somebody who gets the importance of volunteers and community in terms of insuring a sustainable future for our Pacific salmon," said Mike Meneer, vice president for development, marketing and communications for the Pacific Salmon Foundation. "Our ability to successfully engage the government on wild pacific conservation was greatly enhanced by Weston's leadership, involvement, and direction as he has been a vocal and active supporter of our proposal of having 100 per cent of salmon conservation stamp revenue returned to the community and volunteer groups that can make the most of it like the West Vancouver Streamkeepers Society."
At its meeting with Sopuck, the Roundtable Group tackled an ambitious agenda, which included discussion of the creation of a centre of excellence on closed-containment salmon aquaculture, a proposal made recently by the Fisheries Committee, and supported enthusiastically by Sopuck and Weston.
Powell River is looking closely at that idea, with interest by the mayor and council and the Sliammon First Nation to take up the suggestion.
"I'm very impressed to see two MPs with passion and openness in explaining the government's decisions going forward in the fisheries," added Bill Vernon, who attended the meeting, representing David Formosa, the mayor of Powell River.
Weston said he was very pleased with the meetings and likes the direction these initiatives are heading in.
"The visit of my colleague Bob Sopuck highlights the way in which green Tories like us can achieve practical, measurable results for fisheries and the environment, but only if we listen to our constituents and work closely with the passionate advocates, like Streamkeepers and the Pacific Salmon Foundation," Weston said.
- Submitted
