GreenWatch

B. McPherson                  Grand Chief Shawn Atleo, third from left, and Snuneymuxw                                          Chief Douglas White, fourth from left The Snuneymexw First Nation held the third in a series of information meetings about the historical Douglas Treaties signed in the 1850’s with groups of indigenous people on Vancouver Island. At the time Britain claimed Vancouver Island as a colony, but wished to engage in peaceful settlement and resource extraction. This third in the series was held at the Nanaimo’s main library. The public was treated to native dancers in the Diana Krall plaza before the lecture. The young people carried on in spite of the rain, hail and finally a burst of sunshine and a rainbow over the harbour. Inside the library, the overflow crowd was addressed by Grand Chief Shawn Atleo a...

B. McPherson People are gradually waking up to the fact that the most precious resource we have is water. Without it life as we know it would not exist. Along with that realization is the knowledge that water is a finite resource. Many of the world’s people do not have access to clean abundant water. Here on the west coast of Canada many refer jokingly to the ‘wet coast’ because of the teeming rainfall in winter. Few realize that much of the east coast of Vancouver Island has a true Mediterranean climate with sparse rainfall in the summer months. As the world’s climate changes there is increasing uncertainty in the reliability of the rainfall or that the snow pack on the mountains will be sufficient to supply ample water to the people and the environment. The City of Nanaimo is a small, sprawling town that looks to expand its population. Currently there is enough water to supply about 100 000 people and their households. Aging infrastructure and expanding population ar...