Horgan bets on wild or farmed salmon?

NDP Government's reputation at stake over salmon

The Premier of British Columbia, John Horgan, has a big decision on his hands today (Tuesday 10 October) in Alert Bay when he meets with First Nations leaders. Will he pin his colors to the mast of wild Pacific salmon or farmed Atlantic salmon?

Googling "John Horgan salmon" or "John Horgan fish farms" does not offer much insight – his most showy display of public support for salmon came following a losing bet on his beloved lacrosse.

At least the new Premier of BC appears to have spent some of the Summer catching wild salmon (Horgan is on the left with his lucky Victoria Shamrocks t-shirt on).

According to the Port Renfrew Marina Report:

Or maybe John Horgan was unlucky and caught escaped Atlantic salmon?

Whatever the odds of the Premier of BC betting on wild Pacific salmon or farmed Atlantic salmon, Hereditary Chief Ernest Alfred, from the 'Namgis, Lawit'sis and Mamalilikala Nations is feeling confident ahead of the meeting according to his Facebook page:

Alexandra Morton's Facebook page reads:

According to Eric Joseph:

In August, Alexandra Morton challenged John Horgan to "do the right right" on her video blog. "Well, let me just say this. Right here is where it is possible to get rid of salmon farms because these Nations throughout the Broughton Archipelago never signed any agreement with these industries and they have been telling you, the NDP and the other governments, that they do not want salmon farms for the past thirty years."

"So do the right thing," concluded Morton. "For goodness sakes, the NDP put the farms here. It's time to correct that mistake and Claire Trevena, now Minister Trevena, stood up in the bighouse of the Namgis and said she would get the fish farms out of these territories. So just do it. Do it."

Watch video online here

Whether Horgan is a "Just Do It" Nike man remains to be seen though.

If the shoe fits. Horgan and his NDP colleagues are being challenged to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on salmon farms – with Claire Trevena's pre-election pledge to protect wild salmon and remove salmon farms still echoing around the Alert Bay big house.

Watch video online here

The powerful voice of former Environment Minister Rafe Mair (who sadly died yesterday) also rings out across British Columbia. Addressing members of the BC Legislature in 2010 his message to "those bastards" was blunt and simple enough for all politicians to understand: "People of British Columbia will not stand this any longer – get rid of those fish farms!"

Watch video online here

Are you listening John Horgan or will you be wheeling off more dirty cash via donations from the salmon farming industry?