Canada Day call for Indigenous partnership and economic resilience fuels Campbell River’s push to revive aquaculture, protect resource-sector jobs, and demand science-based reforms from policymakers.
By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Canada Day message calling for a unified Canadian economy grounded in Indigenous partnership is resonating in Campbell River, where efforts are underway to restore the city’s role as a hub for salmon farming and other resource sectors.
Carney’s vision mirrors the mission of Mayor Kermit Dahl, who is leading a province-wide push to unite resource-dependent and Indigenous communities in a shared call for science-based policies aiming to reverse years of job losses and policy neglect.
In a letter, Dahl has invited every mayor and regional-district chair in British Columbia’s resource-dependent communities to join “a collective advocacy movement aimed at amplifying the voices of resource communities across B.C. “
“Together, we can amplify our shared concerns, influence policy decisions, and drive change that will support the long-term growth and resilience of resource communities,” Dahl wrote.
“We’ve been losing jobs and industries year after year…Our communities have been quietly dismantled one job at a time, and this needs to stop,” he said in a recent CBC radio interview.
Dahl pointed out that federal scientists have repeatedly confirmed salmon farming is safe and sustainable at a time when global demand for protein continues to rise.
“If we make aquaculture economically unviable, it won’t survive,” he said, noting that the industry in his region has already shrunk from $1.8 billion to less than $900 million.
“We’re losing jobs not because the science says it’s unsafe, but because some people believe it is. That’s a dangerous way to make policy.”
According to the public interest group Resource Works, Dahl’s campaign—emanating from Campbell River, which proudly calls itself the Salmon Capital of the World—is already gaining momentum across British Columbia’s resource-dependent communities.
A communications push targeting urban voters and decision-makers is set to launch this summer. At the same time, Campbell River is expanding its outreach to form a coalition of supportive municipalities. The city has also submitted a resolution to the Union of B.C. Municipalities and applied to host a special session at its 2025 convention to keep resource-sector issues at the forefront.
Mayors and regional chairs have been invited to sign on before the early August UBCM deadline, and several northern and coastal councils are already believed to be preparing motions of support.
“Resource communities have been Canada’s engine room for a century,” said Stewart Muir, Resource Works, President & CEO.
“When they stand together…municipal leaders, Indigenous partners, industry…they don’t just advocate for themselves, they advocate for every British Columbian who depends on responsible resource development for jobs, public revenue, and climate-smart exports.”
Carney in his Canada Day Message said the country’s next chapter will be written together in true partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.
“Together we will build one Canadian economy, connected by major projects, powered by Canadian energy, transformed by Canadian technology and crafted by Canadian workers,” he said.
Both the Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance (CAIA) and the BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) say this vision aligns closely with their ongoing work in Indigenous partnerships, sustainable seafood production, and rural economic development.
In fact, in British Columbia, 100 percent of active salmon farming operations are carried out in partnership with First Nations, underscoring how deeply the industry’s future is tied to Indigenous leadership, rights, and economic reconciliation.
Together with their First Nation partners, the sector is urging Carney to reverse Trudeau-era decisions which led to activist-driven policies that have eroded confidence in Canada’s regulatory credibility in the aquaculture sector.
The Trudeau-era Liberals also dismissed scientific findings from government fisheries experts, which concluded that marine salmon farms in B.C. pose less than a one-percent risk to migrating wild stocks.
As a result, B.C. faces the loss of 4,560 jobs, including over 1,000 held by Indigenous workers, while taxpayers could be on the hook for an estimated $9 billion in compensation to salmon farmers, suppliers, and First Nations.
According to BCSFA, with supportive legislation and policies from the Carney administration, its members could generate $2.5 billion in economic output, contribute $930 million to GDP, and create 9,000 jobs with $560 million in wages by 2030, all while advancing innovation and responsible practices to safeguard wild salmon stocks.
(Main image shows Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl)