Category: Timeline Stories

On February 3, the District of Saanich and City of Langford Councils voted unanimously in favour of BC municipalities pushing the BC government to enshrine its Coastal Marine Strategy into law. The resolutions were brought by Saanich Councillor Teale Phelps Bondaroff and Langford Councillor Mary Wagner. Read our press release..Read More

On June 14, colleagues from CPAWS-BC and West Coast Environmental Law had the pleasure of hand-delivering an astounding 405 postcards to Parliamentary Secretary for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Kelly Greene. We enjoyed reading the messages about your desire to see a strong Coastal Marine Strategy for BC. From the bottom of our..Read More

BC’s first Coastal Marine Strategy was released on July 11, 2024. This strategy is an intersectional plan aiming to boost biodiversity, tackle marine pollution, and recover nearshore habitats with nature-based solutions – all the while advancing Indigenous coastal management, building up resilience to climate change, and working to revitalize coastal..Read More

The Government of BC officially transferred the authority to administer a number of environmental and marine statues to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship (WLRS). This transfer includes the authority to manage tenures under the Land Act, as well as licensing the growth and harvesting of wild aquatic..Read More

The Government of BC released a What We Heard Report to summarize nearly 1,000 public feedback submissions on the Coastal Marine Strategy Policy Intentions Paper. The issues of most concern for respondents were restoration of wild salmon populations, addressing marine pollution, and incorporating legislation in the strategy. Moreover, 88% of..Read More

A public engagement period for feedback on the Coastal Marine Strategy Policy Intentions Paper extended from December 15, 2022 – April 14, 2023. We gathered together a coalition of 19 environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to offer unified feedback on the Policy Intentions Paper, we submitted this joint letter on behalf..Read More

The ministry releases a Policy Intentions Paper for the BC Coastal Marine Strategy that was co-written with representatives from coastal First Nations. The Policy Intentions Paper lays out 6 outcomes they want to see achieved for coastal marine areas across British Columbia, as well as 30 policy intentions to get..Read More

Premier John Horgan announces the creation of the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship that will co-manage lands and waters with First Nations and ensure the effects of economic activity are aligned with environmental objectives. The Ministry consolidates provincial ocean management programs and is responsible for the development of..Read More

The Ministry will engage coastal First Nations’ leadership on a process for developing a Coastal Marine Strategy and key priorities. Then in collaboration, they will draft an intentions paper. Following this step, we expect further engagement over this government’s mandate to develop a made-in-BC Coastal Marine Strategy.

The implementation of BC’s Coastal Marine Strategy is both a promising and necessary first step towards a brighter future for coastal communities across BC, both for those who live on land and in the water. We know that this is the start of all the hard work that lies ahead,..Read More