Thank you.
The Broughton Archipelago fish farm LOU with the Province of British Columbia was a shared recommendation and some shared decision-making that implemented the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which of course the federal government has committed to do as well.
One outcome was the genome lab. DFO created many hurdles and speed bumps for us to do the testing that was in the agreement through the genome lab in Nanaimo at the Pacific Biological Station, so we put together a proposal to build a genome lab that doesn't have those kinds of impediments to the outcomes of the chosen science that we wanted to pursue. As a result of that, the genome lab is built in the Okanagan Nation Alliance hatchery. As far as I understand, this past year has been about training and capacity, because it's far more complicated than just putting a sample in and pushing the green button.
We're at a place now where this is going to be ready to be functional. In terms of objective science, which clearly is not present within CSAS, the DFO and the stated path of federal and provincial governments to work with first nations on wild salmon, this is an clear opportunity that the government must embrace to advance many of the commitments. Most importantly, it's objective science that can then guide decision-making.
In terms of the question that was given to Alexandra Morton—who our family knows as Gwayum'dzi—about a manager for wild salmon, we need one. We need a first nations role there because of our constitutionally protected rights and because of the special place we have in this country. It would be fundamental to reconciliation and foundational across British Columbia.