• The Climate Emergency Crossroads: Forest Protection or Forest Fires?

• 30 Years After the Clayoquot Blockades Old Growth Forests Still Need Protection

• United for Old Growth March & Super-Rally Seeks Results for Forest Protection

• At the Expense of Wild Salmon, During the Wild Salmon Emergency: DFO Allowing Salmon Farms to Expand in Clayoquot Sound?

• Skookum John’s Salmon Story: Protecting Salmon for the Next 7 Generations

• Hands Across the Sand: Demands Action to End Fossil Fuel Subsidies

• Big Profits for Big Oil? Time to Make Big Polluters Pay

• “Dear Josie… Help Update the Mineral Tenure Act & Ban Mining in Clayoquot Sound!” #IMPERIALNOMORE

Read online here!

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Tofino’s Josie Osborne was elected as MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim in 2020. As a long time resident of Tofino, she first moved here to work as a Fisheries Biologist for the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and later as the Executive Director of Raincoast Education Society. From 2013-2020, Josie served as Mayor of Tofino.

Since being elected to the B.C. Government, she has served as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister for Land, Water, and Resource Stewardship. In December 2022, Josie was appointed Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation. Considering all the roles and responsibilities Josie has held working for the benefit for the region and the people, we all understand the significance of this moment with her new portfolio as a big opportunity to protect Clayoquot Sound and the planet.

Within Clayoquot Sound, Imperial Metals continues to pursue developing a gold mine, called the Fandora project, within the unceded territory of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, as well as an open-pit copper mine on Catface Mountain in Ahousaht First Nations unceded territory. Both local Nations have been adamant that mining will not be allowed in their territories. Josie now has the opportunity to lead the B.C. Government in recognizing the mining bans of the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht Nations in law in B.C. to permanently ban mining in Clayoquot Sound.

It is horrific to imagine Imperial Metals doing to Clayoquot Sound what the mining corporation did to the Fraser River watershed with the Mount Polley Mine tailings pond disaster which flooded 25 billion litres of toxic tailings into the Fraser River watershed in 2014. Now is the time to modernize the B.C. Government’s mining tenures to reflect the Land Use Plans of the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht Nations that ban mining in Clayoquot Sound. We can never let Mount Polley happen here!

Tell Josie you want the B.C. Government to ban mining in Clayoquot Sound! Let her know @ 250-720-4515 / emli.minister@gov.bc.ca

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• The Future of Wild Salmon is at Stake: Have Political Leaders Abandoned the Backbone of the Coast?

• DFO Enabling Cermaq to Expand Salmon Farm Size in Clayoquot Sound While Wild Salmon Are Threatened with Diseases and Parasites from Farms

• “Dear Josie… Now is the Time to Ban Mining in Clayoquot Sound!” #IMPERIALNOMORE

• Speaking Up For Salmon With Our Salmon Stories

• Supporting Salmon Protection, Education, and Celebration Clayoquot Salmon Festival Returns in Person

• United We Stand for Old Growth Forests Declaration! The B.C. Government Needs to Step Up for Old Growth

• Protect Old Growth March and Super-Rally! Saturday February 25 at the B.C. Legislature

• No Changes in Fatal Police Shootings of Tla-o-qui-aht Members!?!

• What are the Community Priorities for Policing?

• UN Secretary General Advises at Climate Summit: Tax Big Oil to Fund Climate Justice

Read the newsletter here.

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The FOCS Summer 2022 Newsletter is here shedding light on the major issues in Clayoquot Sound and beyond as well as getting a glimpse of the work we have been doing over the last several months, including updates on our campaigns.  Articles featured in this Newsletter are:

• B.C. Government Must Defer Logging in Clayoquot Sound + Fund Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas
• Ada’itsx (Fairy Creek) Forest Defenders Seek Dropped Charges Due to Abuse of Process
• 6 Action We Can Take for Old Growth Forests
• Government’s TMX Pipeline Investment Could Be $30 Billion!?! How much do taxpayers have to pay?
• Canada’s Finance Minister Continuing to Ignore Climate Change Realities
• Clayoquot Salmon Roundtable Marine Risk Assessment: Special Reportback
• Deadly Parasites: Salmon Farms Provide Ideal Breeding Conditions for Sea Lice
• Deadly Viruses, Bacteria, and Diseases: Salmon Farms Factory Conditions Increase Spread
• The Solution: Remove Salmon Farms from the Ocean ASAP
• Imperial Metals Surrenders Tenures near Skagit Headwaters
• Salmon Stories Initiative Aims to Win Hearts and Minds to Speak Up for Salmon
• “Fracking The Peace” Documentary Highlights Impact of Fossil Fuel Extraction
• Free National Parks Pass Possible with Prescription for Nature

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Photo Credit: @skagitwatershed

This spring, the B.C. government reached an agreement regarding historic mineral tenures in an area within the Silverdaisy watershed known as the Skagit River Donut Hole, surrounded by both Skagit Valley Park and E.C. Manning Park, and between Hope and Princeton. Previously, Friends of Clayoquot Sound joined a larger movement including the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs, First Nations, tribes, environmental groups including Wilderness Committee, recreational groups including the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C., in addition to elected representatives from both sides of the border, to stop Imperial Metals from mining in the area.

B.C. entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with Imperial Metals and the Skagit Environmental Endowment Commission that will see Imperial Metals return all its mining and related rights within the nearly 5,800-hectare Skagit River Donut Hole. The agreement aims to ensure the preservation and protection of the natural and cultural resources, as well as recreational opportunities within the headwaters of the Skagit River.

Meanwhile, within Clayoquot Sound, Imperial Metals continues to pursue developing a gold mine, called the Fandora project, within the unceded territory of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, as well as an open-pit copper mine on Catface Mountain in Ahousaht First Nations unceded territory. Both local Nations have been adamant that mining will not be allowed in their territories. A strong local movement stands to ensure Imperial Metals never mines in Clayoquot Sound.

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Photo Credit: Nicky Young

Within Clayoquot Sound, Imperial Metals has pursued the development of a gold mine, called the Fandora project, within the unceded territory of Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, as well as an open-pit copper mine on Catface Mountain in Ahousaht First Nation’s unceded territory. Both Nations have been adamant that mining will not be allowed in their territories.

This summer, Friends of Clayoquot Sound became aware that Imperial Metals, under the name Selkirk, expressed a renewed interest in Clayoquot Sound by seeking a Notice of Work Permit to conduct exploratory work in the Tla-o-qui-aht Tranquil Tribal Park. The Tranquil area hosts dozens of threatened and endangered species, some of the last high-carbon, high-biodiverse forests on Vancouver Island and supports a rich marine ecosystem. Developing a mine there would cause significant ecological damage and would negatively impact alternative economic opportunities for the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation and the region.

This is especially troubling as the current B.C. mining regime is permitting the ongoing pollution of watersheds and ecosystems. An internal audit conducted within the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation found that inadequate record-keeping and vaguely worded regulations for tailings storage facilities represent significant challenges for regulation compliance and enforcement. The Mount Polley mine tailings pond disaster that spilled 25 billion liters of toxic tailings into Fraser River watershed in the unceded territory of the Secwepemc Nation serves as an example of this broken regulatory system. Only now, seven years after the disaster, two engineers have been found in breach of their professional codes of conduct as they did not provide sufficient observation and monitoring of the tailings dam. Yet no executives or top managers at Imperial Metals have been held formally responsible.

Since the incident in 2014, the Mount Polley Mine has continued to dump wastewater into Hazeltine Creek and Quesnel Lake – a source of drinking water and significant spawning grounds for sockeye salmon – while also missing several deadlines to comply with the terms of its wastewater permit. This is a troubling example of the weak environmental oversight in the Canadian mining industry which has renewed the call for mining law reform. The overall insignificance of enforcement measures against Imperial Metals for the Mount Polley disaster sent a signal to the mining industry that current laws and regulations can be disregarded. With no charges, fines or penalties directed towards the corporation, Imperial Metals increases its potential to expand unsustainable mining operations in B.C.

Imperial Metals shareholders and executives have been held accountable at their Annual General Meeting by Friends of Clayoquot Sound in solidarity with Indigenous land protectors from the Secwepemc, Tla-o-qui-aht, and Ahousaht Nations. The Indigenous land defenders and water protectors have warned the Imperial Metals investors they should be aware of the serious financial risks in investing in poorly run companies like Imperial Metals. Since 2014, Imperial Metals’ share price has dropped from $18 to $3.38 at present. After bottoming out at $1.27 in 2018, the current price is being artificially inflated by Imperial Metals claiming a mining interest in Clayoquot Sound when mining is banned by the Ahousaht and Tla-o-qui-aht Nations.

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