February 7, 2006
Check Against Delivery
It is a pleasure to be here today on Coast Salish traditional territories to talk about a very important decision and a very important process for the province of British Columbia.
We’re joined by a number of important guests. The Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation, Tom Christensen, is with us today; the Minister of the Environment, Barry Penner, is with us today. And we’re joined by MLA Lorne Mayencourt as well. We’re also joined by former Premier Mike Harcourt today, who’s now sitting on the treaty commission. I want to say welcome to all of you today, and thank you for coming.
As we think about what is happening today, I think it’s important for us to reflect on the history of what’s taken place. We use the term “historic” sometimes a little bit too loosely. But today is truly an important event, and the future will decide how historic it is or is not.
What’s critical is this process of looking at the Central Coast of BC started ten years ago, in 1996. It was launched by three former ministers of the Crown: David Zirnhelt, Dan Miller, and Paul Ramsay. It has been carried on since 2001 by three additional ministers: George Abbott, Stan Hagen, and now Minister Bell.
What’s important about this landmark decision is not what governments have done. What’s important is what the people of the province have done, what the First Nations of the Central and North Coast have done as they have bridged the chasm of trust, to say: let us join with you and plot a future for all of us in British Columbia. It is what environmentalists and conservationists have done. It’s what industry has done, and it’s what coastal communities have done.
Some will ask why has this taken so long? It’s taken so long because we decided to do this from the ground up, inside out, involving all the people who would be directly affected, especially the people who knew the land the best, the First Nations. We said to them: help us shape this plan; help us plan a future that respects your traditional territories, that respects your culture, that understands your past and looks to build an even brighter future for the province of British Columbia.
Today we announce the culmination of an unprecedented collaboration between First Nations, communities, conservationists, industry, and government, in support of a provincial land use decision for the Central and the North Coast of British Columbia. Each party had a greater interest in finding a long-term solution than continuing with the conflict and the controversy which often took place in the past. It has taken the goodwill, the hard work, and the dedicated commitment of all who were involved at these tables to bring us to this day. Most importantly, we reached today because people were looking for a solution.
The land use decisions we're announcing today cover the Central Coast and North
Coast land and resource management plan areas. Together, these areas represent 6.4 million hectares
