Editor:
Re: “Milne urges action on reservoir,” Feb. 16.
Thank you to Sechelt mayor and council for honouring our agreement with the shíshálh Nation that water drawdown would only be used in Stage 4 restrictions. Thank you for standing up and acknowledging that this means the Chapman expansion needs to stop and other long-term alternatives need to be found.
In fact, our community has water from the Chapman/Grey Creek watersheds because there is a generous agreement from the shíshálh Nation to share water that lies within their traditional territory.
This is what reconciliation needs to be in Canada. When governments make agreements with First Nations, we must maintain the integrity of the commitment.
In 2005, the SIB and SCRD signed a historic agreement to mutually watch over and protect the watershed. The agreement was signed in the Longhouse between Ed Steeves and Stan Dixon and a pole was carved by Tony Paul with eagle’s wings to protect the unity between our nations.
Chief Doug Kelly of the Sto:lo Nation was also in attendance and asked us all to witness the agreement as a promise to future generations that they will have a healthy homeland and an opportunity to healthy water. As a witness to this incredible historic event, I am supportive of Sechelt council’s present move to stop the Chapman Creek expansion and focus on a better, long-term and respectful solution. As then Sechelt mayor Cam Reid was quoted as saying, ‘’Working together as partners, we are powerful.”
Denise Lagassé, Halfmoon Bay
