A flotilla of more than 150 vessels came together in a remote part of Howe Sound last Sunday to make a collective statement about protecting the most southerly fjord in North America from heavy industry.
"If you were told there was gold in Stanley Park, would you mine Stanley Park?" Lions Bay Mayor Brenda Broughton asked over a loudspeaker from the Future of Howe Sound Society flagship vessel, La Feline. "Never, never would we mine Stanley Park, and never would we mine McNab Creek - certainly not for 12 jobs, certainly not for 1,200 jobs."
The June 30 SOS Save Our Sound Mariners' Rendezvous was held north of Gambier Island near the mouth of McNab Creek, where the flotilla formed from noon to 2 p.m., protesting plans by Alberta-based aggregate giant Burnco Rock Products to transform the estuary into a gravel mine.
With boat horns blasting in unison, paddle boarders and kayakers weaving among the yachts, and live music performed by the band Bylaw 283, Broughton and other speakers pointed to the economic benefits that stem from Howe Sound's environmental recovery.
"B.C. has 14 billion worth of tourist dollars and 15 per cent of those dollars are attracted by the corridor we're in," Broughton said. "Our film industry, our cruise ship industry, our fishing industry and tourism industry come alive for British Columbia here in Howe Sound."
Tim Turner, a teacher and director for Sea to Sky Outdoor School of Sustainability, named seven long-established summer camps on Howe Sound and noted that for children from the Lower Mainland, "there has been a long tradition of coming to this beautiful breathing place."
The choice facing decision-makers, Turner said, is to embrace either "sustainability or stupidity."
Among Sunshine Coast participants, John Roper and Pamela Proctor ferried a delegation from Gibsons on their cutter Mistress.
Roper called the flotilla "amazing" and noted the serious money tied up in it.
"I've been boating for 29 years and I've never seen anything like that," he said.
Bill Anderson of the Elphinstone Community Association also pointed to the combined value of the pleasure boats involved.
"The amount of money that contributes to our economy, we don't need a piddly gravel pit," he said.
Lee Turnbull, West Howe Sound director for the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD), described the event as "pretty incredible," considering the number of vessels that took part.
"That represents quite a lot of economic development, all by itself. So we need to keep that in mind," Turnbull said.
Burnco's gravel mine proposal is being reviewed under a joint federal-provincial environmental assessment process, while the company's rezoning application to permit a processing facility is awaiting a decision by the SCRD board, which has deferred the file until the environmental assessment is complete.
"For me what happens will probably be connected to what the Squamish decide, and we're waiting," Turnbull said. "We haven't heard that yet."
The rendezvous opened with a prayer by Squamish Nation official Linda Williams and two traditional Squamish songs, including The Welcome Song, which had been sung by Chief Joe Capilano and two other B.C. chiefs when they had an audience with King Edward VII in London in 1906, former Coun. Randall Lewis said over a loudspeaker.
Lewis, who serves as environmental officer for the Squamish Nation and oversees project negotiation and development, said in an interview after the event that he was "there to observe and understand what was going on."
While the Squamish Nation is continuing to review the Burnco file before making a referral supporting or opposing the project, Lewis said there are definitely concerns about environmental impact.
"One of the things we're very concerned with," he said, "is surface water and ground water."
Although the McNab Creek watershed has been logged, "it is starting to grow back and there is some viable habitat being created there -viable enough to sustain species of salmon. McNab Creek is coming back to life," he said.
With herring returning after about a half-century absence, and whales and dolphins following the herring, Lewis said the nutrients provided to Howe Sound by waterways such as McNab Creek are essential to its continued recovery.
"We need these tributaries. They are significantly vital," he said. "But at the end of the day, it's chief and council who make the decision on this."
Following the rendezvous, a barbecue was hosted by Burrard and Thunderbird yacht clubs at Ekins Point, on the north side of Gambier Island.
In a brief speech on the dock, West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country member of Parliament John Weston called the event "a long train coming" and "really appropriate for Canada Day."
The next day, in an open letter to the Future of Howe Sound Society, Weston suggested he work with the group to try to secure federal funding for a preliminary study of the Howe Sound area, as a first step toward the group's goal of developing a comprehensive management plan.
"This may be the beginning of a long journey, but one well worth travelling together," Weston said in the letter.
