While salmon quietly made their way upstream to spawn at Goldstream Provincial Park, kilometres away in Downtown Victoria protesters raised their voices about a looming threat to their future.

Gathered on the lawn of the Legislature Oct. 22, First Nation leaders, community members and environmental allies called on the province to halt plans to widen 1.7 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway near Goldstream River (SELEKTEL).

A project they say “offers no new transportation benefits,” as the highway would remain one lane in each direction.

“Because really it’s not an expansion, it’s destruction,” said an emotional WSANEC elder Carl Olsen to the roughly 400 strong crowd.

If the project proceeds, Olsen believes it will cause irreversible harm to the river’s salmon-spawning grounds and la

See Full Page