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Honourable David Eby, Premier
Premier@gov.bc.ca
Honourable Murray Rankin
Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation
IRR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
MLA Oak Bay-Gordon Head
Honourable Rob Fleming
Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure
Minister.MOTI@gov.bc.ca
MLA Victoria-Hillside
Dear Premier and Ministers,
There has been reason to be heartened by some of the concrete steps our current provincial government has taken in recent months that reflect a commitment to pursue a path toward reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and the land. The affordable housing development on the Tsawout First Nation near Central Saanich, the First Nations Well Being Fund, the provincial government’s support to Williams Lake First Nation in the purchasing of land, to name several.
It is in light of this that I am dismayed by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure’s construction proposal within Goldstream Provincial Park that will not only adversely affect salmon spawning and the surrounding ecosystem of the Goldstream River with the removal of hundreds of trees. It will as well violate the rights of the WSÁNEĆ to steward the land and waters as outlined in the Douglas Treaty.
Surely the path to reconciliation includes, at the very least, understanding the Douglas Treaty as a binding agreement between settler and Indigenous peoples, and the commitment to uphold it.
As steps are taken to address the multiple dimensions that need attending to in relation to Goldstream, (eg, the recognition of rights, cooperation, and partnership with the WSÁNEĆ, traffic volume, transport of dangerous goods, the well- being of the river for the proliferation of salmon, the integrity of the forest) I urge you to share in that undertaking in ways that honour the identity of all of us as treaty people.
Therefore, how are you going to take into account the WSÁNEĆ concerns that they are raising?
With respect,