LADYSMITH HARBOURPETITION TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

Transfer Beach · Ladysmith, B.C.

It was left to sink — days ago.Ladysmith HarbourIt’s still here.

A boat went down off Transfer Beach in early September. Residents documented an oil and fuel sheen around the wreck. Ottawa put a floating boom around it, did a bit of work, removed the boom, and then walked away, leaving the boat behind. We want it gone.

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Days in our harbour
—
Hours sunk
—
Transport Canada notified
YES
Removed
NO
Illustration: a half-sunken cabin boat inside a yellow containment boom in Ladysmith Harbour, with an oily sheen drifting past the boom and forested hills behind.

To: The Government of Canada

Remove the sunken vessel from Ladysmith Harbour

We, the undersigned residents of Ladysmith and surrounding communities, call on the Government of Canada to remove the partially submerged vessel from the waters off Transfer Beach immediately.

The vessel sank in early September. Residents have documented an oil and fuel sheen around the wreck. Weeks later, it is still sitting in our harbour and remains a navigational hazard to boaters, swimmers and other waterfront users, and a threat to our cherished marine environment.

We don’t just live near the water, we live on it. We swim, boat and fish here. We celebrate Canada Day at Transfer Beach, host our children’s birthday parties here, gather for community events, and keep this shoreline clean and free of garbage as a community.

We ask that the Government of Canada show our shoreline the same respect by:

A

removing this vessel from Ladysmith Harbour immediately; and

B

working with our Member of Parliament, the Stz’uminus First Nation and other levels of government to develop a plan to address the other derelict and abandoned vessels along our shoreline promptly and effectively, and with compassion for the people who live aboard some of them.

We don’t live near the water.
We live on it.

This is the water our kids swim in. This would never be tolerated near the beaches in Ottawa.

We swim here.

We boat here.

We work here.

We celebrate Canada Day here.

Our kids’ birthdays happen here.

We pick up our garbage. Ottawa won’t pick up theirs.

Whose job is this?

The law exists. The power exists. The wreck remains.

Since 2019, the federal Wrecked, Abandoned or Hazardous Vessels Act has given Ottawa the authority to deal with exactly this kind of vessel. This isn’t a jurisdictional mystery. It’s a choice not to act.

If this were in Dow’s Lake, it would be gone by lunch.

What Ottawa has

  • A federal law written for exactly this, since 2019.
  • The authority to remove the wreck.
  • Transport Canada, notified.

What Ladysmith got

  • A floating boom.
  • Some work done.
  • The wreck, still in our harbour. Day —.
  • No plan for the other derelict vessels.

Make it impossible to ignore.

01

Sign the petition

Add your name online in under a minute: sign the digital version. Or download the petition and collect signatures on paper. Paper petitions need at least 25 original signatures with addresses before our MP can present them in the House. To arrange pickup of completed sheets, email our MP, Tamara Kronis, at [email protected].

Download the petition (PDF)
02

Email the people who could fix this

Our local MP Tamara Kronis has been emailing Transport Canada daily. Help her out by emailing the federal Minister of Transport and asking him one question: why is this vessel still there?

Write to them
03

Share with your friends

Every share puts this in front of a neighbour who hasn’t heard yet. Post it to your feed and to Ladysmith community groups.

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