Port Renfrew is the furthest outpost of my riding. It is a land of extraordinary beauty with mountains that hug a rugged coastline, rivers that run through deep valleys, and a land that harbours significant biodiversity. This area also contains some of the oldest and most majestic living things on our planet. In the area of the Gordon River Valley and further north in the upper Walbran Valley are some of the largest trees on the planet.

A few weeks ago, I went into this remote area with a small team from the Ancient Forest Alliance to document these giant Western Red Cedars, Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir that jut out of the surrounding valley floors like spires from cathedrals.

These trees are very important as they harbour a wide variety of plants and animals when alive, and when they fall, they also provide homes for everything from black bear to fungi. As standing behemoths or fallen giants, they are integral parts of their ecosystems. (more…)

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VICTORIA – Dr. Keith Martin, MP for Esquimalt – Juan de Fuca commented today on the announcement of a new national park reserve on the East Coast. The governments of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador have announced the establishment of a new National Park Reserve. The new reserve will protect more than 10,000 square kilometres in Labrador.

“If Newfoundland and Labrador can get this done, then certainly the Province of British Columbia should also be able to protect our west coast,” said Dr. Keith Martin. “Time is of the essence. If we are going to protect these lands we must act now before they are sold to the highest bidder.” (more…)

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Government is refusing to look at the facts and the science
By Dr. Keith Martin, MP

The rush to choose a sewage treatment site for Victoria before all the facts are available belies a much larger problem. This initiative to spend $1.2 billion to build one or more sewage treatment plants in Victoria is based on myths, fear, perception, and an appalling lack of due diligence on the part of both the federal and provincial governments. It entails the deliberate refusal to listen to the science. Indeed, the facts are being ignored…

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Urgent action is needed to prevent the collapse of the pacific salmon
By Dr. Keith Martin, MP

The collapse of cod stocks off the East Coast should have been the proverbial canary in a coalmine for us here in British Columbia, but apparently it hasn’t been. Declining salmon stocks are extremely worrisome. There are a number of specific challenges that have occurred off our island and these issues must be dealt with quickly by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

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Sewage treatment plans promise to cost billions, yet fix nothing
by Dr. Keith Martin, MP

Victoria is about to be saddled with the biggest boondoggle in Canadian history. The proposal to build a sewage treatment plant that is likely to cost $2 billion or more, is based on myths, fear, and an appalling lack of due diligence on the part of various levels of government.

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The following article appeared in the June 8th edition of the Hill Times, in commemoration of World Oceans Day.

Saving our Dying Oceans
By Dr. Keith Martin, MP

Our oceans are dying, and without life in our oceans, life on land will perish. The threats to our marine environment, our global life support system, come` from many sources, but all have one common cause: human activity.
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Tonight, during Committee of the Whole, Keith posed a number of questions to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on the state of our fisheries and coast guard on the West Coast. Below is the transcript of that debate.

—

Hon. Keith Martin (Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, Lib.):
Madam Chair, I will be splitting half of my time with the excellent member for Humber—St. Barbe—Baie Verte.
I thank the minister for being here. Three search and rescue needs analysis by DFO recommended clearly that Victoria must have a permanent search and rescue vessel. That does not exist. There is 47 footer in Saanich. Will the minister authorize that 47 footer to be in Victoria so Victoria has a permanent SAR capability?
(more…)

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By Dr. Keith Martin

April 22nd 2009

If you sit in an MP’s office for a day, you can’t help but be struck by the massive volume of bills, reports and sundry other documents that enter the “inbox”. The vast majority of these were never asked for and will never be read, as they are readily available online, and wind up in the recycling box. This is an outright waste of money and trees and represents an utterly unnecessary cost to the environment. It continues to occur simply out of neglect. So on Earth Day, why doesn’t Parliament take the lead and introduce a process to reduce the unnecessary printing of government documents? (more…)

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April 22^nd 2009

Honourable Peter Milliken

Office of the Speaker of the House of Commons

Room 224-N, Centre Block

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0A6

Dear Speaker Milliken,

As Parliamentarians, we have been bestowed with the responsibility and privilege of creating benchmarks and adopting best practices in what we say and in how we choose to act. It is for this reason that we should look at our own practices, and adopt measures that will reduce our impact on the environment. This can easily be achieved, particularly in our present era of efficient and effective electronic communications systems. It is for that reason that I ask you, in your capacity as the Speaker of the House and Chair of the Board of Internal Economy, to reduce the number of House of Commons publications distributed in print copy to Parliamentary offices by making the receipt of such publications optional for all parliamentarians. The Board of Internal Economy could review this issue and begin the process. Parliament wastes so much money and resources in unnecessary printing. MPs and Senators can get most of what we want via the internet. Earth Day is this week and we would be setting a splendid example to other government/private sector institutions to follow. In doing this we will be reducing our greenhouse gases by preserving our carbon sinks and reducing the energy used to produce needless, unwanted paper documents.

Thank you for your kind and swift attention to this matter.

Yours very truly,

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