Madam Speaker, last week a truly remarkable thing occurred. For the first time in roughly 50 years, sockeye salmon have returned to Okanagan Lake. In the 1950s and 1960s, flood control work, which included dams, the channelling of rivers and other irrigation water system infrastructure, destroyed the natural salmon habitat. It has taken over a decade of hard work by the Okanagan Nation Alliance to rebuild and restore this precious river system so it can again be navigated by sockeye salmon. These are very important first steps to restoring indigenous fisheries in our region.
The Okanagan Nation Alliance was created in 1981 and includes the Okanagan Indian band, Upper Nicola Indian band, Westbank First Nation, Penticton Indian band, Osoyoos Indian band, the Lower and Upper Similkameen Indian bands, and the Colville confederated tribes with respect to areas of common concern.
I would ask all members of this place to join me in recognizing the hard work and success of the Okanagan Nation Alliance in reaching this historic milestone.