Vancouver, BC - Today, the Indigenous Coastal Waters Stewardship Society and the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, announced $50 million in funding to support First Nations stewardship in the Salish Sea and waters along the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Funding through the Indigenous Coastal Waters Stewardship Fund is now available to the 33 First Nations eligible to participate in the Salish Sea Initiative (SSI) and will be administered by the Indigenous Coastal Waters Stewardship Society (the Society) through an arrangement with Peace Hills Trust, Canada's largest First Nation-owned financial institution. The Society will manage the funds at arm's-length from the Government of Canada, supporting First Nations in achieving self-determination and independence in monitoring and addressing cumulative effects of human activities on marine ecosystems within their traditional territories.
The administrative and governance structure for the funding was co-developed by First Nations partners and Fisheries and Oceans Canada under the SSI, which was established in 2019 to support First Nations along the Trans Mountain Pipeline marine shipping corridor in monitoring and assessing the impacts of human activity in the Salish Sea. Over the past five years, SSI funding has helped to ensure that First Nations have the capacity to collect, analyze and share relevant data and information to understand and mitigate the cumulative effects of these activities.
As the core SSI funding program draws to a close, the $50 million announced today will establish a long-term source of funding to support continued monitoring, evaluation and reporting on the cumulative effects of human activities on marine ecosystems within the respective territories of the eligible First Nations. The full funding has been transferred to the Society to realize the Nations' shared vision of working together for the benefit of community members and future generations.
The establishment of this unique funding model underscores the Government of Canada's commitment to strengthening nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous governments and upholding the principles of the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.
