Alexandra Morton, Salmon Queen

Well friends, meet my hero, Alexandra Morton, a woman who has dedicated her life to the survival of Wild British Columbia Salmon, no gold medals,no silver,no bronze, no directorships in her offing from foreign corporations, just an unbridled passion for our BC Salmon.

I have no words that can truly describe her dedication, but emotionally, I know what she feels, I get shivers of excitement whenever I see Coho Salmon leap out of the water or big Tyee Salmon swirling on the surface, my dad took me fishing when i was knee high to a grasshopper, we fished at places like Gower point,Salmon rock, Gibsons gap, all over Howe Sound, the marina`s were alive with boaters,fisherman, Horshoe bay boat rentals from Sewells Marina, I can`t describe the abundance of Salmon, my favorite food is fresh baked Salmon on a bed of white rice with a smidge of butter, a simple pure meal,nothing fancy.

But Salmon are far more than food to me, I have thousands of memories of mom,dad and my sisters boating,fishing, there is nowhere on the coast I can go without all those memories flooding into my mind.

In the 80s the fish started to vanish, no more Howe sound Coho, Howe sound Chinook Salmon became so scarce overnight, Pender Harbour Salmon vanished,one by one everywhere on the inner coast the Salmon seemed to vanish, we started fishing on the West Coast where Salmon were still plentiful, but sadly the West Coast Salmon have fallen off a cliff, and it`s not from sports fisherman over fishing, the price we pay for Salmon, ferry fares,fuels,boat maintenance,supplies, trailers,believe me, it probably cost us $50 dollars a pound minimum for the fish we caught, that price goes up every year with fewer and fewer fish, there have been many reasons for the collapse of the Salmon, forestry,unregulated forestry killed millions of Salmon, mining has poisoned millions of fish, development and habitat destruction took it`s toll as well.

Regulations,fines and compliance helped stop the habitat destruction, fish farms were but in their infancy back then,no one paid much attention, so at the time forestry regulations were getting enforced and Salmon farms were under higher scrutiny along came Gordon Campbell, the deregulator, the man who looks the other way while the corporation rapes the environment.

You know friends, you can`t force someone to care about Wild Salmon, either they mean something to you or they don`t, Gordon Campbell doesn`t care about Salmon, water, Eagles, Whales, the man just doesn`t care, who will be responsible for killing the last 2 wild Salmon in BC? ....Marine Harvest, no,they aren`t responsible, Gordon Campbell has allowed the fish farmers into our waterways, he`s allowed them to expand exponentially, despite report after report citing the harm fish farms are having on the entire eco system, Alexandra Morton, jeez, how big is her heart, how many setbacks can she endure without losing faith, we just had an Olympic games, our athletes performed great, BCers and Canadians across Canada took to the streets and cheered and waved flags, they cried and screamed at every ski slalom, they gasped at every shot the Americans took on our Canadian goal, but in the scheme of life, the big picture, skiing down a mountain, speeding around a frozen loop, 10 years of training and a couple of Olympics and their done, the medal winners will get multi million dollar endorsements and lucrative job offers and....

And Alexandra Morton, I could walk the streets and ask a hundred people who she is and all I get is a shoulder shrug, what colour medal do you give to the woman who saved Wild Salmon in British Columbia, because friends, Alexandra Morton is winning, I can sense it in her writings, her court wins, Target foods have stopped using Farmed Salmon, no more aquaculture licenses are being issued in BC, yes, little steps, little bit bigger steps and soon she will be galloping, what can I say to Alexandra to show my appreciation, what can I do, I can write(sort of) .....

There was another victory on Tuesday for Alexandra Morton, there was a Sea Lice study the government did in 2004 which showed how sea lice infestations were occurring, Gordon Campbell has withheld that report, similar to the toxic air report Gordon Campbell withheld which endangered countless lives, like I said friends, Gordon Campbell doesn`t care,he never will,it`s his corporate ideology, I personally think Gordon Campbell is criminally insane, those buggy eyes, I thought at one time Gordon Campbell would resign after the olympics, I think Campbell isn`t going anywhere,he will have to be dragged out of office kicking and screaming.

Read the story here, the Government has 30 days to release the sea lice study, http://www2.canada.com/albernivalleytimes/news/story.html?id=4b7be46f-58cb-4267-8454-87621544a9e5

Can you imagine, a sea lice infestation report that was completed in 2004 and Gordon Campbell has refused to release the study, the office of freedom of information has ordered the release, what kind of human being refuses to tell a town that their air is toxic, what kind of person refuses to release a damning sea lice study, well, a person not fit to live with us humans, a man who does nothing but lie and destroy species, a man Tzeporah Berman gave an award too, what happens to people, Berman chained herself to trees in a rain forest and now she has chained herself to Gordon Campbell,Plutonic power and Marine Harvest, meanwhile Alexandra Morton fights our war practically un-noticed by society, no she didn`t slide down a hill on a skateboard, she didn`t spend 40 seconds on a skeleton, she didn`t shoot the puck in the net, Alexandra Morton saved a species of Salmon,preserved an eco-system, Alexandra Morton taught me to care,fight and never say never, for that I nominate her for.

The Greatest Canadian!

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open