| “I remember going out fishing years ago and we would see these tropical fish in our territories on the west coast and it made
no sense. My grandfather would say 'This change is coming'.”
|
Q & A
Do you think we’ve reached the tipping point in terms of mass acceptance that the environment is in trouble?
It would be a very small minority of people who would leave the Al Gore film (An Inconvenient Truth) that wouldn’t feel impacted
by that. When you have that many people who realize that we’re doing something that’s throwing us out of balance with the
living environment, which is what our people have always said. I remember going out fishing years ago and we would see these
tropical fish in our territories on the west coast and it made no sense. My grandfather would say ‘This change is coming’.
And we’ve got to wake up to those changes.
What’s your toughest challenge to going green?
In my role, I serve the 203 First Nations of B.C. and have national and international responsibilities, so transportation
is the big thing, stepping out of cars, getting in and out of planes.
Do you think British Columbians are capable of meeting the provincial objective of off-setting 50 per cent of increased electricity
demand in B.C. through conservation?
Absolutely. It’s the same as the issues I deal with, in terms of social justice for First Nations. I think if everyone understands,
that they learn and are invited to participate, then things will get done. There’s that old saying: ‘Tell me and I’ll forget.
Teach me and I’ll remember. Include me and I’ll understand.’
Will it take legislation to hit those ambitious targets?
I think it’s a balancing act, for regulators and government to balance off market interests and demands and a free marketing
economy with demands on our environment. Ultimately, it should be us that demands it gets regulated. It should be us telling
government that you have to change your policies.
Guilty Pleasure
Few of us are flawless conservationists. Tell us about your dark side.
We have a big house in Nanaimo, and our kids are moving on – they’ve graduated from high school and college. Now we have this
big home that feels so gargantuan, and we’ve got to downsize that. It doesn’t make any sense in terms of our ecological footprint.
Going green
What have you done to conserve energy?
My village is in Ahousat, which is 40 minutes by boat from Tofino. My house there is off the grid, solar with generator backup,
and with timber built right from the island it sits on.
