Salish Sea Trust
Cedar Road V9X 1W1 Nanaimo, BC, Canada

Question to Our FB Friends ...see Whanganui article below... The Salish Sea Trust has been asked if the Salish Sea should similarly seek 'Personhood' status, as... recognized for NZ's Whanganui River?? What do you & your friends think? Should we look at this 'Personhood' option ...as well as the World Heritage Site recognition for the Salish Sea? (A copy of our House of Commons Salish Sea Petition E-1269 can be found at: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Office for Whanganui River, legal person, inaugurated The office that will speak on behalf of the Whanganui River, which was granted the legal status of a person this year, has been inaugurated in a ceremony this morning. The Whanganui River Photo: RNZ / Leigh McLachlan The river was the first in the world to be given the same legal status as a person this year, under the Te Awa Tupua Whanganui River Settlement Claim Act 2017 . The ceremony inaugurating Te Pou Tupua, the office that will act on the river's behalf, took place at Ngpuwaiwaha Marae in Taumuranui - where the Ongarue River meets the northern reaches of the Whanganui River. Te Pou Tupua is made up of Dame Tariana Turia and Turama Hawira and will act and speak on behalf of Te Awa Tupua, the legal personhood of the Whanganui River, to promote and protect its health and wellbeing. Ng Tngata Tiaki o Whanganui chairman Gerrard Albert said Te Pou Tupua would be the human face of Te Awa Tupua. "That's why it's called Te Pou Tupua - the post or the gathering post at which people can gather around this new concept of Te Awa Tupua, the whole indivisible, spiritual river that we can all share in." Mr Albert said the ceremony today had been a long time coming, and the fight for Te Awa Tupua had been led by leaders such as the late Sir Archie Taiaroa. "It's been a long journey. We've been negotiating the river settlement for over 20 years ... and before that it'd been around a 100 years of history." Dame Tariana and Mr Hawira will represent Te Pou Tupua for the next three years. Other related stories: Two sacred Indian rivers get 'living human’ status and, http://www.radionz.co.nz//office-for-whanganui-river-legal Nov. 3/17, 7:24 am John Boynton, Te Manu Korihi Reporter [email protected]

Vancouver to apply for UNESCO World Heritage Site designation for Chinatown Chinatown is a designated heritage district at all three levels of government muni...cipal, provincial and federal. Now the city wants to make it a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of these designated sites all over the world, said UBC history professor Henry Yu. In essence the designation recognizes that this spot is important and significant, basically in human history. Yu is part of an advisory committee that has worked on the city’s Historical Discrimination Against Chinese People in Vancouver initiative. It recommended that Vancouver issue a formal apology for discrimination among Chinese-Canadians. Council agreed this week, and will acknowledge past legislation, regulations and policies of old Vancouver councils towards Chinese residents. When council gave a grant to help create the B.C. Sugar Refinery in the 1890s, for example, it stipulated that B.C. Sugar could not hire Chinese workers. At one point it was even city policy to not hire Chinese workers. Chinese immigrating to Canada had to pay a head tax between 1885 and 1923, when the Chinese Exclusion Act banned Chinese immigration until 1947. Councillor Raymond Louie moved the motion to make the apology. I think it recognizes a period of time where the city was actively participating in racial discrimination against Chinese people, said Louie. We’ve done significant research to show that. The city should take its place in history alongside the federal and provincial governments in recognizing that its actions were wrong. The UNESCO World Heritage designation may take five to eight years to complete. There’s a process that takes awhile before UNESCO would be in a position to recognize it, said Yu, speaking over the phone from Kyoto, Japan. The other (thing) is you have to earn it, by coming up with things like a management plan. You have to come up with a plan of how to manage Chinatown, in terms of maintaining its value. How are you going to handle the huge influx of tourists that are going to come? Because once you’re a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’re on the map, so to speak. Chinatown has been in the news recently because the historic neighbourhood is under pressure from developers. A controversial redevelopment proposal, 105 Keefer, brought out hundreds of speakers, the most to speak on one project in decades. The rezoning of 105 Keefer was rejected by council, but a proposal for a smaller building that fits within existing zoning will go before the development permit board on Monday. Yu thinks the prospect of World Heritage designation may give the city more sense of Chinatown’s value. This could help preserve the many unprotected historic buildings in Chinatown. Conservation is a form of development, he said. Conservation isn’t trying to preserve and freeze something, it’s a way of developing an area in a managed way, so that we identify the things that we value and we manage those. World Heritage designation isn’t just about protecting old buildings, however. Yu said when Malacca, Malaysia received UNESCO designation it helped bring in tourists that spurred all sorts of new street life. Malacca was kind of a ghost town, and now every weekend, tens of thousands of people come and there’s street food and all kinds of activity, he said. It’s not about just the buildings, that’s the key thing, it’s about the cultural life. To me it’s perfect for (enhancing) what we know and love about Chinatown the sights, the smells, the food spilling out onto the sidewalk. We’ve heard again and again from people that this is what Chinatown is, not just the buildings. It recognizes that value and then manages it, conserves it. John Mackie Published on: November 2, 2017 | Last Updated: November 2, 2017 5:24 PM PDT The southeast corner of Pender and Columbia in Vancouver's Chinatown. Jenelle Schneider / Vancouver Sun [email protected]

Now's the time to support the Salish Sea's cultural and natural heritage. Please sign Petition E-1269 to Parliament: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details Thank you.

Beach Clean Up - Students for the Salish Sea | Locust Beach Saturday, 04. November 2017 Help us restore and protect the Salish Sea Watershed by showing up to ou...r local beach! We invite you to invite everyone, and clean up the beautiful beaches of Bellingham Bay. World wide, 13,000-15,000 pieces of plastic are dumped into the ocean every day. Every year, 6.4 million tonnes are dumped into the ocean. We can make a difference to remediate that statistic, together. Students for the Salish Sea will be eduacting about biodiversity of the intertidal zone, sustainable stewardship, and the ways in which we can heal our local environment. Comments This is--just one of many reasons-- why we must act. Locust Beach is only a 20 minute bike ride from Western Washington! By riding your bike or taking public transportation to clean up one of Bellingham's favorite beaches, you are reducing your carbon emissions AND making our home a healthier and happier place for all the creatures who live here too! 04. November 2017 - 10:00 till 13:00 Locust Beach, Bellingham