Push for a new hospital in Tofi no

The growing push for a new hospital in Tofi no

Chamber of commerce urges province to prioritize a new facility, as Ahousaht sees ‘revolving door’ of patients

By Melissa Renwick Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofi no, BC - The Tofi no General Hospital (TGH) was built in 1954 to service a regional population of 400 people, according to the Tofi no-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. Since then, the region’s population has grown to around 10,000, with visitation levels reaching an estimated 600,000 people per year in 2018, the chamber added. In a letter addressed to Health Minister Adrian Dix on March 28, the chamber urgently stressed the need to replace the hospital to accommodate this growth. While Island Health said “renewal” of TGH has been noted among their priority projects, the chamber is concerned that it could take another 10 years at the provincial level before a new facility is built. “A decade is too long a time frame to rely on the current facility,” said Tofi noLong Beach Chamber of Commerce President Laura McDonald. “As visitation and regional population numbers increase each year, the pressure put on the current hospital … is too great.” When six people tragically died after a whale watching boat capsized off Tofi no’s coast in 2015, the chamber said TGH was “woefully inadequate” to handle the emergency. “It was chaos,” said Tofi no General Hospital Foundation Director Camilla Thorogood. “The waiting room seats four or fi ve people, and there were dozens of people there trying to help.” According to PreparedBC, the “odds of a damaging earthquake” hitting British Columbia’s coast in the next 50 years are one in three. “Evaluations of the hospital indicate that the building could face potential disaster during an earthquake – just when the people of the west coast need it most,” read a 2019 Vital report by the Tofi no General Hospital Foundation. A 2015 Asset Detail Report for the hospital further emphasized that it “will likely suff er serious damage or collapse during a severe earthquake”. “Not only does this present an unacceptable threat to the local population, it is even more diffi cult to invite visitors in such numbers to a region that does not have adequate emergency health facilities,” the chamber wrote in their letter. Island Health said it “recognizes the need to address the aging infrastructure at Tofi no General Hospital.” Over the past 10 years, Island Health said it has invested more than $3.8 million in projects and equipment for the facility. Island health added that it works closely with the Ministry of Health and has received approval to begin preparing a concept plan for a “proposed TGH project.” That work is expected to begin in the “near future,” they added. “While this is an important fi rst step in the process, it should be noted that there are many steps between conceptual planning and fi nal approval for a project of this type,” Island Health said. “These steps can take several years to complete.” In the meantime, Island Health said it will continue to “ensure the hospital is maintained to a standard that enables us to deliver the best care possible.” The Tofi no hospital serves around 1,800 First Nations residents from the surrounding communities, including Tla-o-qui-aht, Toquaht, Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ Hesquiaht and Ahousaht First Nation, according to the vital report. Ahousaht First Nation Elected Chief Greg Louie said he’s advocating for a new hospital on behalf of his nation, and the region at large. “The hospital is small, it’s antiquated, it’s outdated, and there are some services that the hospital needs improvement on,” he said. “First Nations are the fastest growing population within the region, and with Tofi no being a very attractive tourist centre, the hospital is just far too small.” In its current state, the hospital doesn’t have a maternity ward. That means that women and families need to travel to Port Alberni, Nanaimo or Victoria to receive care. It’s not only fi nancially burdensome, but time consuming, said Louie. The Ahousaht chief councillor said the hospital also doesn’t have psychiatric designation, which was especially challenging during the height of COVID-19. Mental wellness is not addressed adequately, Louie said. Without a psychiatric designation, he said that patients are released without receiving comprehensive care. It “creates a revolving door” of patients circling in-and-out of the hospital, he said. Thorogood said the current infrastructure lacks a cultural area or large space for people to gather when someone is passing. “It’s quite important,” she said. “We need some sort of space for that.” Louie echoed the sentiment by saying that when Ahousaht members are in the hospital at the end of their life, family members need somewhere to go. “Their room fi lls up, the hallways fi ll up, the small waiting area fi lls up, there’s people in the front entrance [and] there’s people outside,” he said. “A lot of family members come to the hospital, so having that space is very important – culturally and spirituality [it’s] very important to our people.” During a meeting on Jan. 17, Louie said the health minister assured him that “the Tofi no hospital is next.” Decisions will need to be made collaboratively between local, provincial and First Nation governing bodies, said Louie. “We really should have input on this together,” he said. A site for the new hospital has not been solidifi ed, but Tofi no General Hospital Foundation Chair Arlene McGinnis said, “We feel a good site for the hospital is on the land where it sits now.” McGinnis said the foundation land across from Tonquin Medical Clinic is designated for medical use only. “We can’t use it for anything else,” she said. “We’d like to see it used as a part of the hospital project.” Thorogood said the foundation is “strongly” opposed to the hospital being moved to a new location because it would make it more diffi cult for off -shore residents to access care and provide support to loved ones. “Talking to your loved ones makes you feel a little more connected and not so isolated,” she said. While Thorogood said the province has been “very supportive” of the foundation, they haven’t seen any tangible moves forward. “I think they’re listening,” she said. “They’re well aware of us. We’ve been a loud voice.”

Photo by Melissa Renwick The Tofi no General Hospital serves a regional population of 10,000, far greater than what the facility was originally built for in 1954.

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The First Nation moves to protect its long-term forest interests, identifying over 4,000 tall trees to be preserved

By Mike Youds Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

Huu-ay-aht First Nations have a relatively small territory, yet they hold big ambitions in forestry. Notched out of the Island’s west coast, Huu-ay-aht-owned land spans 8,200 hectares of the Sarita River watershed along Barkley Sound’s south shore while the nations hold additional rights in their larger ḥahuułi, including Tree Farm Licence 44. This location has more than a little to do with HFN’s strategic interest in the forest industry as it undergoes upheaval and potentially transformative change through the provincial government’s promised forest sector “modernization,” implementation of DRIPA and recommendations of the strategic old growth review. A little to the south of Huu-ay-aht territory, Pacheedaht First Nation has endured two years of protest and police presence near Fairy Creek, the largest act of civil disobedience in Canadian history. To the north, Clayoquot Sound was a fl ashpoint in the War in the Woods 30 years ago, the country’s second largest act of civil disobedience. “Our biggest threat is that people are calling for a halt to all old-growth logging in B.C.,” Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor Robert Dennis said during a recent UBC forestry panel discussion. He shared a photo of massive logs supporting the House of Huu-ay-aht in Anacla. “To me that means, OK, Huu-ay-aht, we’re not going to allow you to build any more structures like that.” Less than a year after Huu-ay-aht-owned Huumiis Ventures acquired a 35 per cent stake in TFL 44, the new partnership with Western Forest Products — Cawak ʔqin (Tsawak-qin) Forestry — is forging ahead with long-range plans to advance to carbon neutrality and fresh analysis of old growth trees in the TFL, research released ahead of an old growth summit hosted by Huu-ay-aht First Nations in Anacla April 28. Next week’s gathering brings together coastal Indigenous representatives to share information on their stewardship and resource management planning and decision-making processes. Its purpose is to hear from forestry professionals on the so-called “science gap,” wide discrepancies in scientifi c estimates of old growth forest in B.C., a bone of contention in a continuing confl ict over what remains of trees 250 years old and older. “The need for large-scale deferrals would likely be justifi ed by reliance on the untested assertion in 2020 by technical advisors to B.C. that there is only three per cent of productive old growth left in B.C.,” HFN said as it announced the summit in November. “Other forestry technical advisors say there is 30 per cent of similarly labelled productive old growth left within a highly protected land base. As the rights and title holders who make the fi nal decisions on forestry in our territory, Huu-ay-aht needs to close this science gap.” Far from shying away from controversy, HFN has elected to take a lead hand on the politically charged issue of old growth preservation and deferrals, heading off any potential constraints on their right to manage their forests as they see fi t. Cawak ʔqin Forestry released results April 6 of a TFL 44 technical analysis that backs up Huu-ay-aht assertions about remaining old growth. The study found

Photo by Mike Youds Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor Robert Dennis Sr. sees calls to halt all old-growth logging as a threat to the First Nation’s culture. Much of Tree Farm Licence 44, below, covers Huu-ay-aht territory.

three-quarters of old growth in TFL 44 is protected or outside the timber harvesting land base. While some studies estimate as little as one to three per cent of more productive old growth (valley bottom) forest remains across the province, the study suggests TFL 44 has 29 percent. The analysis provides a baseline for the Huu-ay-aht integrated resource manage plan (IRMP) expected to take shape over the next two years, said Joel Mortyn, a forester who authored the report. “From a conservation focus, the data tells us that old forests are less represented in the highest productivity stands and the drier ecosystems in TFL 44, and the current Indigenous-led planning process will be important in addressing those areas,” Mortyn said. “It is also clear that old growth is not at risk of disappearing from TFL 44 and will, in fact, be higher than current levels in the future due to the established network of protected areas.” The study was peer reviewed by experts in the fi eld of forestry, ecology and timber supply analysis, Cawak ʔqin said. “Facts matter, and so do millennia of on-the-ground knowledge passed down through our ancestors,” Dennis said. “This study confi rms what we have always known – that there is more old growth than claimed and that even under existing forest stewardship regimes, the amount of old growth will grow over our Indigenous seven-generation planning horizon. It’s time to move past the battle of numbers and continue planning for a future where we continue to have old growth in perpetuity, as well as strong resilient communities where everyone and everything benefi ts.” “The report shows the state of our forests after a century of excluding our people from the lands we have lived on and from since time immemorial,” said Huu-ay-aht Hereditary Chief ƛiišin, Derek Peters. “Now the world is turning to our nations to lead the journey to an even better way where, through Indigenous leadership grounded in respect, we ensure a brighter future for everyone and everything.” Cawak ʔqin put another feather in its old-growth protection cap last week, announcing that trees within TFL 44 above 70 metres in height will be retained while the IRMP is completed over the next two years. Previously, only trees more than 80 metres high were retained. Using LiDAR remote-sensing data, the company has identifi ed more than 4,000 tall trees and said it will ensure that forest reserves are left intact around them. An estimated area of 14,000 hectares of existing and planned preserved forests in TFL 44 is associated with tall trees. By comparison, the provincial government’s technical advisory panel recommended deferral of harvest of 11,860 hectares in TFL 44. Over the next two years, foresters and ecologists, working with Witwak Guardians employed through a stewardship monitoring program, will verify tall trees and work with TFL 44 nations on longterm retention measures. “This change in tall tree retention aligns with Huu-ay-aht First Nations practices on its lands and tenures and maintains options for long-term decisions made through the TFL 44 IRMP process,” said Shannon Janzen, forester and chair of Cawak ʔqin’s board. The company said it will continue monitoring planned harvest areas to ensure “very large” diameter trees are left unlogged unless requested by First Nations for cultural purposes. Next week’s Anacla summit includes a tour of the Huu-ay-aht ḥahuułi along with discussions about Huu-ay-aht’s approach to old-growth management and the IRMP process.

A forestry panel searches for common ground amid divided opinions on how to best protect old growth in the province

By Mike Youds Ha-Shilth-Sa Contributor

B.C. has to bridge deep divisions before it can put healthy ecosystems and biodiversity ahead of timber supply, says a co-author of the province’s Old Growth Strategic Review. “This sector has been rife with confl ict for a very long time and there’s a lot of scared people out there,” said Garry Merkel, a registered forester and member of Tahltan First Nation. “Everybody is afraid for diff erent reasons. We see each other as enemies and it causes deeply rooted behaviour that stops us from coming together and solving this collectively.” Merkel gave his view of the historic rift April 7 as part of a UBC Forestry panel of experts invited to fi nd common ground, “a path forward” to protect old growth forest in the province. The online discussion included Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor Robert Dennis, forestry consultant Cam Brown and ecologist Rachel Holt. Despite reassurances from Forest Minister Katrine Conroy, neither Holt nor Merkel is satisfi ed with the provincial government’s progress adopting recommendations from the 2020 review. Both agreed that key changes — the so-called paradigm shift in thinking — won’t happen unless it can be enshrined in law. “We’re seeing very little movement on the recommendations,” Holt said. “We need to do a whole bunch of work and that hasn’t happened yet.” “We’ve been struggling in our implementation of this strategy,” Merkel said,

speaking in a collective sense (he continues to serve on an old growth technical advisory panel along with Holt). “I’m not sure if it’s an intent problem or it’s just so big that, frankly, we’re a little bit lost right now and confused. I see it translating myself as confusion, and I think it’s fi xable.” Six months ago, the provincial government promised to engage with First Nations to fi nd agreement on deferring harvest of old growth forests. Logging deferrals, recommended by the strategic review, are a temporary measure to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss while they develop a long-term approach that prioritizes ecosystem health and local resiliency. Huu-ay-aht First Nations were among the fi rst to respond, confi rming in December that 33 per cent of their Hahuuli and TFL 44 remains old growth while asserting title at the same time. “Give us our two years to develop an integrated resource management plan and let that be our plan moving forward,” Dennis told panel participants April 7. “Let us develop that plan. Our land, our decisions.” The province has so far received responses from 188 of 204 First Nations. To date, 75 have agreed to defer logging of at-risk old growth. More than 60 have asked for more time to decide while incorporating local and Indigenous knowledge. Only seven First Nations opposed any deferrals in their territory. “By deferring harvest of nearly 1.7 million hectares of old growth – an area equal to more than 4,100 Stanley Parks – we are providing the time and space we need to work together to develop a new, more sustainable way to manage B.C.’s forests,” Conroy said in an April 1 update. The early April panel discussion was intended to off er a range of opinions while fi nding commonalities among them. Brown, a consultant to industry, argued there is more old growth forest remaining than the three percent claimed by Holt and colleagues in an independent study. “I would suggest 36 per cent of the old growth today is big,” Brown said. “Truly large stands are quite rare. It’s just not necessarily as dire as (three percent) would suggest.” He agrees forest management must change but feels there has been progress since the 1990s. “There’s been a balance struck there for right or wrong,” Brown said. “Where we’re going here is a continuation or evolution of sustainable forest management practices that is bringing in First Nation values and more likely to put emphasis on ecosystem health than timber values.” There is no such balance, Holt contended, pointing to the old growth review: “They said we haven’t had balance at all, that we need to shift how we manage our forests,” she said. Instead of embracing change, the forest industry took issue with the numbers, insisting there is more old growth than claimed, Holt said. They didn’t buy into the concept of change recommended by the review panel. “We have to stop combining the various types of old growth into one large number,” Holt said. “When you see a big number, it’s meaningless. There is very little left of the original large-structure forest. Failing to take this into account will result in failure to properly manage remaining old growth forests.” First Nations are confronted with a Hobson’s Choice, a supposed free choice in which only one option is off ered, Holt said. “In the First Nations context, they’re not being off ered change,” Holt said. “They’re being off ered the forestry industrial model that got us here and that is the problem.” Carbon emissions from forestry exceed every other industry while the number of jobs created per cubic metre of timber harvested is a fraction of that achieved in Europe, Holt said. She cited the example of Western Forest Products, which exports rough-cut cedar to New Zealand: “That is problematic from every element and we need to stop doing that.” Dennis began his panel talk by showing a photo of the House of Huu-ay-aht, constructed from giant cedar and spruce logs two metres in diameter, hewn from old growth forest. “Moving forward, we want to continue to be able to have these kinds of structures in our territory as our population grows,” said Dennis, a former logger. “That’s what that means to me … the land is our culture.” The number of Huu-ay-aht people employed in the forest sector has grown during his time in offi ce to 44 from just

Garry Merkel

Photo by Eric Plummer The House of Huu-ay-aht (above) is constructed from giant cedar and spruce logs two metres in diameter, hewn from old growth forest. Raw logs are exported from Port Alberni’s harbour (below).

Photo by Mike Youds

two in 1995, he noted. “We’ve seen diff erent companies log the valley and we didn’t like what we saw,” Dennis said. “With this current government, I’m happy how we’re working together to fi nd a balance. It’s our turn to be in the driver’s seat.” Of the 35 salmon streams in Huu-ayaht territory, only three or four remain productive, a decline generally attributed to logging impacts. “You wrecked it; we’re going to fi x it. We’re going to fi nd (the path forward) in a very balanced way,” following sacred principle of Hisuk Ma C’awak, everything is one, he said. Merkel said the common sentiment expressed during the old growth review was a desire for change: “The general public has already made a shift and wants to see things done diff erently,” he said. First Nations are pushing the envelope by taking a new approach and thinking of the land as a whole, he said. “That’s really pushing us to a whole new standard of land care.” He urged all sectors to “move beyond the games.” “The old growth report was really not about old growth,” Merkel said. “It’s more about changing the way we look at the forest … Start thinking about this, not as a source of timber, not just as forest, but as a whole.”