The BC NDP’s promise to, literally, double down on protecting B.C.’s wild salmon is drawing reaction.
During a stop in Campbell River yesterday, NDP leader John Horgan says if elected, his party would work to double its contribution to the $143 million BC Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund.
The fund supports protection and restoration activities for priority wild fish stocks, including salmon, over the next five years.
The federal government is committed to 70 percent of the funding, with the other 30 percent coming from the province.
“Wild salmon are crucial to the success of our economy, the prosperity of coastal communities, and the lives of Indigenous peoples,” said Horgan. “The challenges affecting wild salmon stocks in BC are complex. It’s important that we work with people and communities to find solutions.”
Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau said the fund came out of work that her party colleague Adam Olsen did, adding that she’s glad to see the Premier commit more funding to it.
“The BC Greens would also go further and cancel open-net ocean-based fish farms tenures and provide supports to transition to land-based closed containment – for the whole coast, not just in the Broughton Archipelago,” Fustenau said.
North Island Liberal candidate, Norm Facey says his party would focus a Minister responsible for Fisheries and Coastlines. to enhance and protect our water and fish resources.
Facey says that minister’s sole job would be to focus on BC’s needs and deliver on them.
