Madam Speaker, earlier this month in Gibsons, B.C., home of The Beachcombers, over 650 people opened the Nicholas Sonntag Marine Education Centre in the Gibsons public market. It was as bittersweet day, as Nick had passed away suddenly two years earlier, before his vision for the market was fully realized.
Educated at UBC, early in his career Nick caught Maurice Strong's attention and became the chief of staff for the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. Then he synthesized the ideas that became Agenda 21. In 1996, he became executive director of the Stockholm Environmental Institute, and he never stopped engaging.
Nick has been a world leader in preserving the earth's resources for future generations. His home was the Sunshine Coast. The plaque written by good friends and colleagues Brian and Mary Nattrass says, “The more we know of the ocean, the more we understand ourselves and the changing tides of our lives.”
Come and visit and share in our deep gratitude for Nicholas Sonntag.