It was a rare chance for the local government leaders who make up the Howe Sound Community Forum to meet in the middle.
On Sunday, Gambier Island hosted the meeting of the forum, which covered issues ranging from the 麻豆社国产Nation鈥檚 marine plan to the current state of health of the surrounding ocean.
The forum includes municipalities and regional districts from around Howe Sound, as well as the 麻豆社国产Nation and Islands Trust. West Vancouver-Sea-to-Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy and West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky MP Pam Goldsmith-Jones joined about 80 other participants, including 麻豆社国产Mayor Patricia Heintzman and Councillor Karen Elliott.
Ruth Simons, executive director of the Future of Howe Sound Society, helped coordinate the meeting and was pleased Goldsmith-Jones planned to talk about the Sound in Ottawa. 鈥淚 do believe her voice will be taken to cabinet and Howe Sound will be heard of,鈥� Simons said.
In fact, Goldsmith-Jones was able to offer some good news on the derelict vessels issue, telling the forum that federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau had scheduled a May 2 teleconference for the Liberal caucus on dealing with derelicts.聽
Kate-Louise Stamford, an Islands Trustee for Gambier and one of the meeting鈥檚 hosts, pointed to the importance of having the 麻豆社国产Nation well represented.
鈥淥ne of the challenges I think communities have on Howe Sound is we鈥檙e divided up with jurisdiction structures.鈥� It鈥檚 such a complex area, geographically and politically, but they [the 麻豆社国产Nation] cover the whole of Howe Sound,鈥� Stamford said.
That importance was acknowledged by using traditional 麻豆社国产names when referring to the various forum communities during the meeting.
Gambier residents have been on the front lines of a few recent concerns over activity in the Sound: a proposed gravel mine at McNab Creek and woodlot licences.
Stamford said those concerns came up, but her main focus was a presentation on assessing the cumulative effects of development in the Sound, something that鈥檚 been an outstanding issue for the forum and the Future of Howe Sound Society. 聽
鈥淥ne of the things that we鈥檝e focused on traditionally has been the industrial expansion 鈥� the reindustrialization of Howe Sound 鈥� but at the same time, there鈥檚 other forms of development that are equally impactful,鈥� she noted. 鈥淩esidential development, recreational development, the impacts of the fixed-link study.鈥�
Stamford cited 11,000-plus new residential units planned in the Sea to Sky Corridor as a prime example.
Simons said when it comes to the long-standing goals of completing a provincially funded cumulative impacts study and developing a comprehensive land use plan for Howe Sound, some important milestones could be met soon. 鈥淲hile it is very slow, they have made progress [on the cumulative impact study],鈥� she said. 鈥淭he next step will be a draft policy around how cumulative effects should be managed.鈥� This year will actually see some results from that.鈥�
鈥淚 think the intent is there,鈥� Stamford said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if we can move fast enough for the level of changes we can expect in this area.鈥�
