Thank you.
My name is Eli, and I'm from Clayoquot on the west coast of Vancouver Island. We're one of 14 Nuu-chah-nulth nations who have been along the west coast of Vancouver Island since time immemorial. I also associate with an organization called the ICCA Consortium. The ICCA Consortium is based in Geneva, Switzerland. It's a global association of indigenous peoples and local communities.
The goal of the ICCA Consortium is to enliven the commitments under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. As you may know, in 1993 the international community made an agreement, a treaty, around the biodiversity crisis that this planet is currently experiencing. It was recognized in subsequent years, particularly in Montreal at the secretariat convention, at a joint meeting with UNESCO in 2010, that there are islands of biological diversity on this earth that coincide with islands of cultural and linguistic diversity. In my territory on the west coast of Vancouver Island, we have one such island or anchor of biodiversity and cultural and linguistic diversity. I work with communities throughout North America to support the ongoing existence of their natural selves. We support the indigenous peoples and the local communities of North America to continue to exist as natural selves in a balanced relationship with ecosystems and biodiversity. This is the work that the ICCA Consortium is forwarding.
In terms of the ocean, we're very interested in the Oceans Act. I want to talk about the Law of the Sea, the joint commons of the oceans. Canada is in a unique position now to be a good role model in the international community. We have to demonstrate leadership in the international community in terms of how we relate to the ocean and the resources in it. In Nuu-chah-nulth we don't think of these things as resources. We think of them as our relatives. We are whale hunters, and we have ongoing relationships with sea mammals and other life forms from the ocean. We want to be able to maintain those relationships over time, so the idea of marine protected areas is interesting to us. We think it's a step in the right direction.
Overall, we need to improve our economic relationship with the ocean. It's not been good. I don't know if anyone would argue with that. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak, in terms of the outcomes of our management relationship with the ocean. But it's not too late. There's still the potential for abundance. Through initiatives like marine protected areas, I think we can balance our economic relationship with the oceans.
In addition to being the regional coordinator for the ICCA Consortium, I also work with the University of Victoria. I'm a political scientist, and I study the evolution of language. I like the word “economy”. It's related to the words “ecosystem” and “ecology”. The word “economy” today has changed in the last 40 years, or so I'm told. I was only born in 1980, so this is not first-hand. Wiser people than me have told me that the word “economy” is used very differently. It has a shared origin with ecology and ecosystem: oikos, the house. Economy is the wise and prudent management of the house.
I look at these marine protected areas, and as a Nuu-chah-nulth person in particular, I know that we have a unique relationship with the ocean. However, I also see that marine protected areas need to be balanced with a healthier conception and practice of “economy”.
For what it's worth, I am privy to Pathway to Canada Target 1, Canada's commitments to the international community, particularly Aichi target 11, which is the 17% and 10% to be under some sort of protected area measure by the year 2020.
I work with a variety of provincial, territorial, and federal governments, as well as indigenous peoples, national indigenous organizations, and other experts, from initiatives like the Great Bear Rainforest, the tribal parks from Vancouver Island, and also other areas across Canada.
The process that's been demonstrated by Parks Canada and Environment Canada is a good role model for us in how we can advance marine protected areas.
It behooves us in the era of reconciliation, in a post-Chilcotin decision legal landscape, to move our language beyond consultation and accommodation. It's a simple twist of phrase, which can allow us to move forward in a more solid way with marine protected areas. The twist of phrase is going from “I will consult you and I will accommodate you”, to “I will work with you in partnership, and I will hold off until we're at a place in our relationship where I can have your consent—that without pressuring you too much, I can have your consent.”
This is the kind of relationship we're ready for as indigenous peoples in Canada. This is the kind of relationship that the ICCA Consortium fosters globally in its variety of engagements internationally.
Thank you very much for the time to present to you, and I look forward to any questions you may have.
Meegwetch, kleco-kleco.