B.C. Liberal Decision to Hide Sea Lice Data Shows Need for New FOI Rules
VICTORIA— The B.C. Liberal government’s decision to hide information about the sea lice infestation in and around the province’s fish farms is more evidence of the need to reform the province’s FOI rules, say New Democrats.
Doug Routley
Ecojustice and the T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation have asked the government to provide sea lice infestation records from January 2004 - March 2010. The B.C. Liberals are denying their request despite the fact that the government just lost a six year battle to conceal 2002-03 sea lice infestation records from the public.
“The Freedom of Information and Privacy Commissioner has already ordered the B.C. Liberal government to release this information for a different year. By fighting against the public’s right to know, the B.C. Liberal government is wasting time and money,” said Doug Routley, New Democrat critic for citizens' services. “The government should be serving the people of this province, not shielding industry from public scrutiny.”
Lana Popham
During the spring sitting of the legislature, Routley introduced The Open Government Act to close loopholes in the province’s FOI legislation and prevent the government from waging time-consuming and costly battles against the public’s right to access information.
“Hiding disease reports certainly raises the question: what don’t they want us to know,” said Dr. Alexandra Morton, a scientist studying the impacts of sea lice on salmon mortality in the Broughton Archipelago. “The only Fraser sockeye in collapse are those migrating past salmon feedlots. In December 2009 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recommended 23 salmon diseases become notifiable diseases.”
In 2007, the bi-partisan Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture recommended that the salmon farming industry be transitioned to closed-containment within five years. The B.C. Liberal government ignored this and more than 50 other recommendations, including transparent disease reporting, despite ongoing concerns about the impact of fish farms on wild salmon and other species.
“If open-net fish farms are good for our province the B.C. Liberals should be happy to provide information about the environmental impacts the industry has on our coast, including the prevalence of sea lice in and around open-net pens,” said New Democrat agriculture critic Lana Popham. “The fact that they are hiding this information implies that the environmental costs of open-net pens far outweigh the economic benefits this form of aquaculture delivers to our province.”
Popham noted that if the B.C. Liberal government implemented the recommendations of the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture it would help British Columbia protect jobs and the environment.
“The best way to protect jobs on the coast in tourism, commercial fishing and aquaculture is to protect the environment that sustains these activities,” said Popham. “Becoming a world leader in sustainable aquaculture would create new green jobs while opening up markets to a product British Columbians can be proud of.”
Carole James and the New Democrats are fighting for an environmental plan that respects communities, creates green jobs, offers families positive choices and commits to concrete action to protect species at risk.
