My Decision
When members of the Federal NDP first asked me to run as MP for Vancouver Island North I said “no,” but then I reconsidered. The way I see it the people of our communities, province-wide, are suffering from the same politics as the salmon. I have lived 26 years in an extremely small coastal town called Echo Bay and I saw how political decisions, that we were not a part of, made in Victoria and Ottawa, destroyed us. They took away a small mill from my neighbour, Bill Proctor, and they told us we could not tie our floathouses to the shores of this province, while granting this same right to the industrial salmon feedlots.
As a result, my home is supporting foreign shareholders and not the local communities of Gwayasdums, Kingcome, Hope Town, Echo Bay, Alert Bay and Port McNeill. We have lost our residents, school and a culture is slipping away. Bureaucrats claim we were not worth the paperwork and this is wrong. I would like to fix this, because it is not good for the people, bears, whales or the salmon or the real economy. The real economy is the one that includes us, like wilderness tourism, community forests and many small businesses.
Over 1000 people wrote to me and generously shared their thoughts and supported whatever decision I made. I learned so much and I am very grateful.
I have decided not to run for Member of Parliament for Vancouver Island North because every time I spoke people would have to decide if that was the truth as I see it, or the best thing I could say to win votes, support a political party, or work with my caucus. I think my unique contribution to the home that I love is my role connecting the wet and wild world I am part of to people and government.
I am also deeply involved with the Cohen Inquiry into DFO's management of the Fraser sockeye. This is a powerful process that I want to see through.
The greatest regret I have in making this decision is foregoing the opportunity to work with Members of Parliament Fin Donnelly, Nathan Cullen, Jean Crowder, Denise Savoie and others. These are remarkable people are doing their best to represent us and the natural world that we depend on. I hope that I can be a resource to them and others in the political world.
I am also hoping to support individual candidates across party lines that I think are setting the best course for this province, bringing us into ecological compliance so that we are no longer robbing our children and returning resource decisions and access to the local people who are the wisest and best informed. You can become part of this at wildsalmonpeople.ca If you decide to join me in this we can hold up the ideals we believe in as a non-partisan voting block. It is not good enough to say I hate politics, face it politics are running our lives and it is up to us to get involved. We need to elect us and we need to support or recall politicians in response to how they perform.
I would like to extend thanks to all of you who spoke and wrote to me! What a fantastic 6 days. I was on CBC IDEAS last night
Onward
Alexandra Morton
