Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Hello, members of the standing committee. My name is Lucas Harris. I'm the executive director of Surfrider Foundation Canada.
I live in Victoria, B.C., and I acknowledge with respect the territory of the Lekwungen-speaking peoples. I'm meeting with you today from San Clemente, California, the traditional territory of the Acjachemen people.
Surfrider Foundation is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to the protection and the enjoyment of the world's ocean, waves and beaches for all people through a powerful activist network. Based in British Columbia, Surfrider Foundation Canada is part of the global Surfrider community of international affiliates located in Argentina, Australia, Europe, Japan, Senegal and the United States.
Surfrider is a non-profit corporation and a registered charity in Canada and currently has three local volunteer-led grassroots chapters in Tofino and Ucluelet—that's the Pacific Rim chapter—and also in Victoria, which is known as the Vancouver Island chapter, and in Vancouver as well. The organization also supports two youth school clubs at the University of Victoria and Ucluelet Secondary School.
So far, our focus is on addressing several key coastal environmental issues, including plastics reduction, ocean protection, beach access, coastal preservation and water quality, but most relevant to the issue of marine cargo container spills is our work on ocean protection and defending the oceans from challenges threatening the vitality of the ecosystems.
Our ocean faces growing challenges from pollution, habitat loss, development and climate change. If that wasn't enough, shipping threatens to crowd our oceans and degrade the health of the ecosystem due to the impact of cargo container spills and the debris they create.
Surfrider Foundation Canada works to protect our ocean and address dangers to it. Today and in the future, our ocean protection initiative includes mobilizing grassroots campaigns to respond to the cleanup needs associated with marine cargo container spills and participating in regional ocean planning.
I'll now pass this off to my colleague, Alys Hoyland.