Haida Gwaii's Mount Moresby Adventure Camp raised in Legistlature Committee Session

MLA Jennifer Rice raised the topic
of a Haida Gwaii Adventure Camp and
the impact on it from potential logging 

Considering the ugly turn of discussion in the Legislature Chamber on Thursday morning, with exchanges of expletives and angry moments in the Legislature hallway, the Forest, Lands and Natural Resources Committee of Supply session Thursday afternoon at the Parliament Buildings was the thing of Zen retreat.

The Committee of Supply Sessions  are outside of the usual House proceedings and Question Period theatrics, in this case featuring discussion related to the nature of ministry operations.

Things were significantly more civil as North Coast MLA Jennifer Rice joined in on the discussion, seeking some background on the government's approach to a situation on Haida Gwaii which has seen a popular nature camp on the cusp of having to close down.

Ms. Rice raised the topic of a letter related to the Mount Moresby Adventure Camp, which is an area adjacent to land slated to be logged.

In her presentation she recounted for the committee how the area has been used by 1,300 students from School District 50 over the years and how it has been an important part of life for the children of Haida Gwaii and been adapted as part of the School District 50 curriculum.

As well Ms. Rice noted that at the moment the pace of logging in that area has been suspended, asking Thomson if there is a solution in place to accommodate both the logging industry work and the desire to keep the Adventure Camp a going concern.

In reply, Minister Steve Thomson observed as to the need for balance on Haida Gwaii between both the logging interests and maintaining an important wilderness asset for the community, noting that its a challenging circumstance but that the government is working to try and find a solution to the issue.

Some background on the Adventure Camp issue can be found here and here

Northern Development Initiative Trust hailed the Camps contribution to Haida Gwaii with this 2012 information page.

The full exchange from the Committee session can be examined from the Draft minutes of the Legislature starting at just before the 13:45 mark.

The video of the proceedings can be found the Legislature Index page see Thursday's Afternoon Committee A section for a link to the video review.

You can find more items related to the North Coast MLA's work in Victoria from our archive page.