Aquaculture: “If only they back their slogans with action”

On Vancouver Island, election slogans fall flat as salmon farming communities face job losses, shuttered businesses, and politicians who embrace activism over accountability.

By Fabian Dawson
SeaWestNews

As Canada’s federal election campaign kicks into high gear, promises about job creation, economic revival, and respect for Indigenous rights are ringing hollow for Dave Stover of Campbell River on Vancouver Island.

To him, those political soundbites aren’t just empty, they’re a reminder of repeated betrayals.

For over a decade, federal politicians have offered words without action, leaving people like Stover, and British Columbia’s salmon farming industry, to deal with the consequences.

“If only they back their slogans with action, we wouldn’t be in this position,” said Stover, whose 35-year-old Browns Bay Packing Company is now on the brink of permanent closure, signaling the end of a seafood processing legacy dating back to the early 1900s.

Stover’s story is not unique.

Like his company, more than 1,400 businesses in B.C.’s salmon aquaculture supply chain face an uncertain future. They’ve become collateral damage in Ottawa’s shift toward anti-fish farming activism at the expense of scientific evidence and rural livelihoods.

Central to their frustration is the Trudeau government’s decision to eliminate ocean-based salmon farms in B.C. by 2029, despite federal scientists confirming that   these farms pose less than a one-percent risk to migrating wild salmon.

The Liberal government’s reversal on respecting Indigenous territorial rights, while simultaneously ignoring its own experts, has only deepened the crisis.

The fallout is extensive. Nearly 4,600 jobs hang in the balance—over 1,000 of them held by Indigenous workers. Meanwhile, Canadian taxpayers could face up to $9 billion in compensation claims from salmon farming companies, suppliers, and affected First Nations.

Yet, as the Federal Election campaign enters its second week, the salmon farming crisis in B.C. has received little attention from any of the major federal parties.

Liberal leader Mark Carney, whose “Canada Strong” campaign emphasizes “meaningful reconciliation,” has failed to extend that message to B.C. salmon farmers and their First Nations partners.

“The Liberals keep talking about reconciliation, but they only seem to reconcile with the voices they agree with…and in the case of salmon farming in B.C., it’s the activists,” said a Victoria-based political analyst.

“That’s because the activists and their followers are mainly from urban Liberal strongholds not the rural ridings, he said.

In North Island–Powell River, the riding at the heart of B.C.’s salmon farming sector, the Liberal candidate is Jennifer Lash, founder of the Living Oceans Society, an organization whose primary mission is to shut down ocean-based salmon farming.

“Given the choice of their candidate, the Liberal Party’s messaging about food security, resilience, and job creation is meaningless in this riding, where thousands of aquaculture jobs are at stake,” said the analyst.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre visited Campbell River last week, where 1,251 aquaculture jobs and 500 local vendors are at risk. But neither he nor the area’s Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn addressed salmon aquaculture directly. While Gunn has expressed general support for the sector, some Indigenous communities remain cautious about his broader stance on First Nations’ issues.

“There is no clear Conservative position on salmon farming, despite touting economic sovereignty and its ‘Canada First’ stand,” the analyst added.

The NDP’s campaign slogan “In It For You” also falls flat among salmon farming families, many of whom have already lost their jobs, or stand to, due to the proposed ban. The party’s candidate, Tanille Johnston, a Campbell River city councillor, belongs to a party that remains strongly opposed to traditional ocean-based salmon farming, aligning with Green Party policies.

This Sunday, Gunn, Lash, Johnston, Green Party candidate Jessica Wegg, and People’s Party candidate Paul Macknight will face off at a debate in Campbell River. The future of salmon farming will be a key topic.

“All eyes will be on Gunn to see if he will go further than vague support, perhaps by promising that a Conservative government will halt the transition plan and initiate a full review,” said the analyst.

For Stover, anything less than a science-based, long-term licensing plan for salmon farms won’t be enough to save his business.

He has already shelved a $30 million project to build a new integrated seafood processing plant in partnership with a First Nation and is preparing to close his existing facility this summer.

“We were shovel-ready on the new plant that would’ve created jobs and opportunities. Instead, I’m managing the end of my business,” Stover said.

“We built something here. It’s not just about fish…it’s about people, families, and futures. You can’t put that in a soundbite or a political poster. And no one in Ottawa is listening.”

“At the height of COVID, we were declared an essential service to maintain food security and now they are cutting our livelihoods…it just doesn’t make any sense to the hundreds of people who are losing their jobs,” said Stover.

He doesn’t plan to attend Sunday’s debate.

While Browns Bay Packing may not have a voice on the debate stage, its story speaks volumes about what happens when politicians stop listening to the very communities they claim to represent.

(Main image (l to R) shows Liberal Leader Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh at podiums with their election campaign slogans)