Langara Lodge (604) 873-4228
Peregrine Lodge (604) 681-9851
Queen Charlotte Lodge (604) 662-0025
The location of the activities is the northern coast of Haida
Gwaii ( Queen Charlotte Islands ), 54 degrees 10 minutes north
and 133 degrees west.
The situation as of Tuesday July 23 1991 is that the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police have charged four Haidas and one
employee of the Council of the Haida Nation who is Canadian with
contravening the injunction. They are appear in Supreme Court on
civil charges September 16. We are concerned that the charges
may indicate that the pressure on the RCMP may lead to an
escalation of Canadian activity. In light of last summer's OKA
situation it is clear that Canada is capable of denying
meaningful negotiation in favor of more sensational and
aggressive strategies.
This is the TEXT that is been passed out to the guests.
DEAR PEOPLES
You have been unwittingly drawn into a time of conflict here on
these islands, Haida Gwaii. The purpose of this document is to
elaborate on the situation so that you better understand why Oak
Bay Marine Group has allowed you to be used as a part of the
problem.
It is our hope that you will at least understand the situation and
thereby make an informed decision as to your role.
The story begins thousands of years ago in the time of the
Supernatural ones before the great flood. Here in this very area
which we know as KIIS GWAII (Langara Island) thousands of our
ancestors lived and harvested the foods of the sea and land. Over
the millennia we grew and were prosperous and content with our
home. In more recent times a cloud has covered the sunshine of
these happier days.Canada was born and in their youthful enthusiasm
they defied their own constitutional laws and attempted to displace
and remove us from our sustenance.
The Sportsfishing industry was non existent here in 1984. We were
alone sharing the foods with a commercial fishing industry that
supported families and communities on our island home and all along
the western coast of BC. Suddenly a new presence arrived and in a
few years the Sportsfishing Industry grew from nothing in 1984 to
250 anglers in 1985 to 8,000 fish for fun fisherman in 1989. More
than 20,000 tawan (chinook/spring/king salmon) were caught by the
new arrivals in one season alone.
We maintain a children's camp called Haida Gwaii Rediscovery a mile
south of Kiis Gwaii in a bay called Taalungslung. Here children
from different cultural backgrounds come together to learn about
each other and this land and sea. Understand our concern when
guests/clients from the Sportsfishing operations would come ashore
and party. In one case alcohol was given to minors. We operate our
Haida Gwaii Rediscovery camp as an alcohol drugs free zone.
Understand our concern, Canada's Department of Fisheries & Oceans
(DFO) was advised by Bob Wright the owner of the Oak Bay Marine
Group in his capacity as a member of the Minister's Advisory
committee. The DFO refused to see the sudden increase as a valid
concern. Their presence in the area was infrequent and we saw no
serious effort to review their policies.
In 1989 the Council of the Haida Nation set up a Commission to seek
the widest possible input from and on the new user group.
Sportsfishing Operators, Commercial fishing interests, Communities
and Individuals participated and a report was issued in the spring
of 1990. The Commission recommended that a Management Plan be
implemented and that a committee be created which would include all
Sportsfishing Operators, and other interest groups. Together we
would develop the necessary parameters to effectively insure that
the Tawan populations were harvested at sustainable rates. As well
we sought to maintain the natural qualities of the land so that the
new arrivals were able to enjoy what we had enjoyed for thousands
of years.
The response of the majority of the Operators was positive and
together they and the Haida Nation began to design a management
plan. The atmosphere was positive and promising. But there was one
dark cloud in the sky. Oak Bay Marine Group with it's privileged
position declined to participate. In fact Oak Bay made every effort
to dismantle the joint efforts. Haidas efforts to reach an
agreement with Oak Bay came to nothing.
In the first year of the Management Plan the individual quotas
which had been set by DFO were cut in half by the Registered
Operators while the unregistered operators continued at the higher
level. DFO subsequently followed suit by reducing their quota to
the Management Plan levels.
In July 1990 a plane chartered by Oak Bay flew in two employees,
Randy Wright and Norm St, Clair. In this incident which has been
judged by the Canadian Courts, the plane recklessly charged into
a fleet of Haida boats and collided with our canoe which was lying
alongside the very same float that you use today. The blades of the
plane sliced into the stern of the canoe narrowly missing the
helmsman's head by mere inches. We then requested a meeting with
Mr. Wright through his son, but Mr. Wright was unavailable.
Following this incident Oak Bay sought and received an injunction
against Haidas seeking $ 200,000 in damages. The court has judged
that the Plane chartered by Oak Bay was at fault, yet the
injunction stands and today we understand that Oak Bay intends to
seek $650,000 in damages.
Publicly accusing the Haida of been only interested in money Mr.
Wright has failed to recogonize the necessity of a joint management
plan for the thousands of people who seek the tawan, the coho and
the groundfish. He privately revealed his complete focus on money
when he told DFO Deputy Minister Bruce Rawson that the answer to
this whole situation was money. When asked what it would take to
resolve it, Mr. Wright said $ 200,000. and the Deputy Minister
promptly offered that exact sum to the Haidas. But because our
main concern is not about money, because we are worried about food
for our villages, because we are concerned about a sustainable fish
resource, because we are not in favour of privileged access to
management decisions we said "NO". We will not accept this money.
What we seek was a government to government negotiation that would
address these types of issues before they become unnecessary
problems. Initially DFO was agreeable and actively courted the
Haida Nation, as was Mr. Wright who promised the support of 400,000
sportsfishermen, but after we declined the money DFO informed us
that they could not deliver a commitment to negotiate. During the
negotiations a Communique from the Sportsfishing Association of BC
based on information that was somehow leaked to them called on DFO
not to negotiate. The result was that the time spent in
negotiations created an appearance that there was no problem at a
time when the new Minister of DFO was in Vancouver.
Mr. Wright has said he has no problem with the Management Plan
and that he would register. However he said that he wanted a
privileged position relative to all other registered operators. He
would only pay 1/2 the registration cost, cost that was identified
by the registered operators as necessary to implement the
management plan. There can be no privileged position we are all in
this together as equals.
Mr. Wright has made substantial profits from the ocean. He boasts
that his is North America's largest Sportsfishing Operation. We do
not believe that the size of his operation is a measure of his
ability to work cooperatively with other people who rely on the
ocean for their livelihood.
-- Michael Nicoll via oneb.wimsey.bc.ca!onebdos Michael.Nicoll@onebdos.wimsey.bc.ca