Here's the e-mail message I wrote to Prime Minister Paul Martin today about maintaining full funding for the Salmonid Enhancement Program run by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
I also sent variations on the message to Fisheries Minister Geoff Regan, and Industry Minister David Emerson, the senior minister in British Columbia.
Dear Sir:
I am dismayed to hear that the budget for the popular and effective Salmonid Enhancement Program run by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans may be slashed.
Dollar for dollar this is one of the most beneficial programs the DFO runs, because it has a huge multiplier effect by supporting the work of thousands of volunteers all over British Columbia.
I am proud to count myself among such volunteers, as my wife and I dedicate hundreds of hours per year to the Byrne Creek Streamkeepers in Burnaby, BC. Our passionate, community minded group greatly appreciates the support it receives through this program.
I am appalled that the government can boast of a budget surplus of over $9 billion, and then contemplate cutting back an incredibly cost-effective, grass roots program.
Salmon runs in BC are an annual multimillion dollar renewable resource that is under ever-increasing pressure from over-fishing and environmental destruction.
In our particular case, the work of DFO community advisers and dedicated volunteers brought a dead urban creek back to life. We expect to see salmon returning to spawn beneath the shadows of high-rise condominiums any day now.
Please don't let us down.
Respectfully yours,
Paul Cipywnyk
Posted by Paul at October 15, 2004 03:51 PM