Save Goldstream

Join Tsartlip Elder ZȺWIZUT Carl Olsen and the Goldstream Protectors to save SELEK-TEL-, the Goldstream River, on Southern Vancouver Island from the Malahat highway expansion. This  expansion will destroy salmon habitat, infringe on the Douglas Treaties, cost $162M and won’t even add more lanes to the existing highway!

What’s at stake?

If you’ve been to Southern Vancouver Island, chances are you have passed by SELEK-TEL-, the Goldstream River. This critical salmon-bearing stream lies on the territory of the W̱SÁNEĆ Nations, who have been protecting it since time immemorial. However, this ecosystem is now facing a massive threat: the Malahat Highway expansion. This highway widening plan will clear over 700 trees from the west bank of the river, destroying the shade canopy and increasing the water temperature. Additionally, it won’t add any new lanes. The most recent environmental assessment revealed the potential of permanent loss of salmon habitat due to this project. These salmon are an important food source for the endangered southern resident orcas. They also bring nutrients from the ocean into the forest. 

The W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples, including Tsartlip First Nation, have been harvesting salmon here and stewarding these lands since time immemorial. Under the Douglas Treaties, the W̱SÁNEĆ Peoples have a right to hunt and fish. Knowingly destroying salmon habitat infringes on these rights.

Why does the B.C. government want this highway expansion?

Over a decade ago, the B.C. government decided the Malahat highway needed safety upgrades. Some of these have already happened, but the section of highway that runs right next to the Goldstream River and through Goldstream Provincial Park has not begun. The project will clear over 700 trees (many of which are over 250 years old) from the west bank of the Goldstream River. It will widen the existing single lanes, add a concrete barrier instead of the current traffic pylons, and create a hanging walkway over the river and right next to the highway. This will cost $162M, which has been approved in the B.C. budget, and won’t add more lanes. This is not an upgrade to reduce traffic; it will just make the existing lanes wider. There are so many more effective and innovative ways to make a highway safer than making its lanes wider. The $162M fund could instead be put toward public transit infrastructure, which would also reduce traffic and improve safety.

You can help!

Tsartlip Elder Carl Olsen has been protesting the Malahat highway expansion every Tuesday morning from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. at Goldstream. To support him, a grassroots group of activists has coalesced as the Goldstream Protectors. You can join Elder Carl and the Goldstream Protectors to show your solidarity by meeting at the Goldstream day use area at 9:45 a.m. on any Tuesday. The Goldstream Protectors have even made signs you can use! We ask that if you attend, you defer to Elder Carl and the Goldstream Protectors and act with respect for the other people attending and for the land and ecosystem.