DMPAG Next Steps

As many of you know, we have been participating in the Dock Management Plan Advisory Group, providing feedback and vocalizing the community's concerns with the DMP.  Last week we presented our recommendation on grandfathering and explained how that ties into WPC continuing our efforts within the DMPAG.

We have asked the government to focus their efforts on responding to our grandfathering recommendation in order to provide clarity and fairness to the terms and conditions. The balance of the work for the DMPAG meetings will be focused on the science and increasing flexibility for new dock tenures, while still observing the intent of the Best Management Practices for New Docks in the swiya.

Premier Eby & Minister Cullen Meeting

WPC and SLSA Representatives met with Premier Eby and Minister Cullen on Monday to follow up on our initial meetings in March with the Premier. We reiterated our position on grandfathering to the Premier and Minister Cullen and requested their support for our recommendation on grandfathering of existing docks and boathouses. 

Our proposal includes a long tenure, with renewal if the dock and / or boathouse is maintained in a safe condition. We asked for the removal of individual environmental and archeological study requirements but supported the desire for increased understanding of the cultural importance and history of the shíshálh Nation.  

We have asked for a short period of time to repair or remediate unsafe or derelict docks and boathouses prior to being included in grandfathering.

While the reception from the government has seemed positive, we have not yet received a formal commitment from them.

Media Campaign

We are continuing our Media Campaign on ‘Grandfathering’ this week with ads directed at Minister Cullen in the BC Today email publication, alongside our social media campaigns, which highlight dock owner’s stories.  These are being published across multiple platforms, such as Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok.

Council of BC Yacht Clubs

The Council of BC Yacht Clubs met with Nathan Cullen’s team to discuss the DMP. They put forward their concerns about the need for proper use of science that informs any DMP, a fair mechanism for arbitration, and expressed their concern that the DMPAG process needs to be restructured, as they were not given a seat at the table.

As such, they are waiting to critique the DMP, once the final recommendations come out from the DMPAG. They are also in discussions with David Muter, Assistant Deputy Minister for WLRS, to formulate a plan to evaluate what is happening in the Southern Gulf Islands with the dock moratorium (80 pending applications), and a potential roll out of a similar DMP in that area. They are working on an overall strategy of taking a larger role in coastal management as a government advisor.

PHARA

We have been informed that PHARA has instructed its legal counsel to file proceedings in the BC Supreme Court. They will ask the Court to rule that the DRIPA is beyond the province ’s constitutional power and the Order in Council 2022-0444 is invalid.

We are receiving inquiries about WPC’s position on PHARA’s filing. It has been our strategy from the onset to secure reasonable treatment of our members' docks and boathouses through collaboration and cooperation. We are continuing on that path, with our primary goal of achieving real grandfathering for existing docks and boathouses. We are optimistic we will come to a reasonable arrangement, and should we not be successful in our efforts, we will re-evaluate our overall strategy and advise you.

MLA Property Rights and Docks Pledge

WPC has met with the BC Conservative leader, John Rustad and BC United leader Kevin Falcon and both leaders were willing to sign a pledge to protect dock owner property rights. We will also ask the NDP Candidate in the Sunshine Coast region to sign the pledge once a candidate is formally nominated.  We will post a copy of the pledges on our website as they become available.

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Thank you for your continued support.