Serving residents and communities from Middle Point to Earls Cove/Egmont
Dock Management Plan
October/15/2022
Dock Management Plan.
Ignoring Pender Harbour Resident’s Concerns
As of October 2022, we sent three emails with attachments on April 13, June 14 and October 10 requesting acknowledgement and response from those we had been dealing with (Jasmine Paul and Kevin Haberl who have since moved on). The October 10 letter was addressed to hiwus Warren Paull and Murray Rankin, Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation again asking for an acknowledgment and response (see below). It was cc’d to Doug Caul, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation; Heinz Dyck, Chief Negotiator, Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation; Greg Mouchain, Manager, Authorizations (Land), Ministry of Forests; Steven Feschuk, Rights and Title Office, shíshálh Nation; Leonard Lee, Director, Area A, Sunshine Coast Regional District, Nicholas Simons, MLA Powell River-Sunshine Coast. To date, we have not received a single response.
Dear Hiwus Warren Paull and Honorable Ministers Rankin and Conroy: The following email was sent to your staff on April 13, 2022 and again on June 14, 2022. To date, six months after our initial email request, we have received no response or even an acknowledgment of receipt of our email and attached letter. We are aware that Jasmine Paul and Kevin Haberl are no longer in their previous positions, so we are forwarding this to you. We are respectfully requesting a reply to this email so we can move forward. Should your staff wish further clarification, please have them contact us directly. Best regards, Peter Robson, Bill Charlton, Sean McAllister
When the Provincial Government and the shíshálh Nation imposed a new set of onerous regulations concerning dock placement and construction in Pender Harbour without consulting the local community, the community was shocked and angered. In some areas, docks would have to be removed for environmental reasons, though there was no supporting science. Other areas would require new docks to be shared. New dock construction requirements were not based on real science and would actually cause danger. Unproven technologies were given as fact.
This is the major issue of concern for Pender Harbour and will have ramifications throughout BC. For more information, visit Pender Harbour Dock Management Plan
“Progress on revising Dock Management Plan”
Photo Credit: Sophie Woodrooffe/Coast Reporter. Caption: Bill Charlton, PHARA Board Member and Co-Chair of the Pender Harbour Dock Management Plan Working Group addressed the SCRD Board.
The Pender Harbour Dock Management Plan (DMP) Working Group is now a committee under the PHARA umbrella. This gives the DMP Working Group a parent organization with a broader base of membership in the community as they continue to focus on how to best deal with issues related to docks in the Harbour.
The Dock Management Working Group has been extremely busy over the last year in attempting to get the Province to consider reasonable amendments to the Dock Management Plan previously issued by the Province.
We have obtained reports from experts in their fields that offer additional details to the reports earlier commissioned by the Province.
We also retained the services of Cynthia Shore, a government liaison expert, to promote our interests to the Province.
We have also reached out to the shíshálh Nation and have been working collaboratively to reach an amicable solution that respects everyone’s interests.
Engineering analysis of the PHDMP found it contains legislated hazards related to float buoyancy and stability plus the 43% light transmission criteria is not achievable. It further states that the PHDMP must be amended to reflect proper engineering design of all the elements of any new dock system. Further, a recent Environmental Review by Balanced Environmental Services Inc. found among other things that the reports and studies used in the creation of the PHDMP do not support the stated objectives of the PHDMP and that they do not provide any information justifying the use of zones for dock management.
On Dec 12, 2019 PHARA board member Bill Charlton presented proposed changes to the DMP to the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) Planning and Community Development Committee.
Two motions were passed by the committee and eventually by the entire Board endorsing the forwarding of these proposed amendments to the Province, as well as a suggestion that the Area A Official Community Plan (OCP) be reviewed concerning the zoning issue.These motions were unanimous and included the support of the shíshálh Nation.
We are in regular contact with the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development (FLNRO) who are administering the plan to determine how these proposed amendments may be discussed and some or all of them implemented.
Our Area A Director has worked with us to ensure that our concerns were brought to the attention of the Province, including resolutions made by the SCRD and endorsed at the recent Union of BC Municipalities conference.—Sean McAllister (Co-Chair DMP Working Group)
