April 2023 Forum Review

Crossing Howe Sound in between the rain. D.Mitchell

New and returning elected officials, staff and various observers gathered in the atrium at the Gibsons Public Market on Friday, April 21, 2023, for the Howe Sound Community Forum. Hosted by the Town of Gibsons, the location was a great venue in this quaint town recently featured on CBC’s Still Standing.

Of the 63 attendees at the forum, those not from the Sunshine Coast travelled by water taxi from Lions Bay and Bowen Island to Gibsons Landing before taking a short walk to the market.

The Forum began with a welcome from Mayor Silas White and a territorial welcome from Sḵwx̱wu7mesh Úxwumixw member Aaron Marchant, who both acknowledged the profound impact of recent news on the neighbouring shíshálh Nation.

Michelle Lewis, Natural Asset Technician with the Town of Gibsons, gave a presentation on Natural Asset Management at a Watershed Scale. This a mapping project to understand, among many outcomes, the roles of natural assets in the area and the provision of safe drinking water supply.

Danielle Derrick and Rhona Govender, Fisheries Management Officers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, gave an overview of the Glass Sponge Reef, Rockfish Conservation Area alignment project. They explained the background and the proposed new GSRs and 5 proposed GSR marine refuges and the project to review the effectiveness of RCAs and explore avenues to improve.

Representatives from the municipalities of Whistler, Squamish, West Vancouver, Gibsons, Bowen Island and Lions Bay, plus regional areas of West Howe Sound, Sunshine Coast Regional District, Squamish Lillooet Regional District and the Gambier Island Local Trust Area, gave updates. This was the first forum since the fall 2022 municipal elections. Updates included progress on climate action and resilience projects, developments moving forward, challenges in the aftermath of winter storms, and much more.

Attendees enjoyed networking over lunch provided by Market Bistro and a visit to the Nicholas Sonntag Marine Education Centre.

The forum continued with information-packed updates relevant to the people and the Howe Sound watershed from Nicholas Simons, MLA Powell River-Sunshine Coast and Patrick Weiler, MP West Vancouver/Sunshine Coast/Sea to Sky.

Ruth Simons summarized the key activities of the Ocean Watch Action Committee over the past year. The committee met over Zoom four times to share information, learn and further actions that improve ocean health. A recommendation from the committee is to support the idea of a central marine debris fund that could support out-of-pocket costs for local stewards who contribute to the cleanup of difficult marine debris that washes up on shore.

As a follow-up on Action 7.4 of the Howe Sound Ocean Watch report – Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions, which had a rating of “critical,” Tracey Saxby, Executive Director of My Sea to Sky, shared a preview of the Community Carbon Tracker, a partnership between Sunshine Coast Conservation Association and My Sea to Sky. This tool is being developed to help municipalities track regional GHG emissions. Working with BCIT, the tool will be formally received later in 2023.

Dawn Allen, with the Sunshine Coast Climate Action Committee, gave a presentation Paying for the Costs of Climate Change, that explained the rationale behind the initiative launched by West Coast Environmental Law – Sue Big Oil. Given the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s estimate that the present and future climate change cost is $5.3 Billion annually, SBO is asking each municipality to set aside $1 per resident in 2023 or 2024 toward community funds for climate litigation. The Town of Gibsons is the first of the Howe Sound communities to sign on.

Following up from the spring 2022 forum hosted by Squamish Lillooet Reginal District, Area D, held at Furry Creek, Ruth Simons reported good news on the renewed commitments by the forum members of local governments’ commitment to the updated Principles of Cooperation and the Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the Howe Sound Biosphere Region Initiative Society. These were essential steps toward sustaining the UNESCO Biosphere Region designation. Ruth explained the next steps in forming the AHSUBR Roundtable and posed potential scenarios to the forum members on appointing representatives to the Roundtable. More information can be found here.

The next Howe Sound Community Forum will be held in Whistler in October.