We all accept some risks in life, particularly in Squamish.
In fact, many of us push the boundaries in our sports and and careers, accepting more risk for the thrill of the win or to see where the bounds of the impossible really are.
Most of us also know that there is an inherent risk just living in this area of the world—of a crash on the highway, a flood, an earthquake or a wildfire.
However, the possible risk from massive debris flow events from the Mount Garibaldi (Nch'ḵay̓) volcano has been left unaddressed for too long, threatening everyone who lives in its path.
“These debris flows pose intolerable risk to existing and proposed development,” states a BGC Engineering report.
In particular, the area under threat includes hundreds of people in several Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) villages who have lived with this “intolerable risk” generation upon generation.
As Nation hereditary Chief Pekultn Siyam Dale Harry noted to council at a public hearing on June 11th, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people never asked to live on the reserves in harm’s way.
“Our residents didn’t choose to live there,” he said, speaking on behalf of his family, with his mother, Elder Chésha7 (Gwen Harry) by his side.
“That was your government that went and placed our people on that reserve [IR11] ... They wanted to move up further because they knew. They had the local knowledge, but government told them, ‘You have to stay there, or you won’t have any home.’”
That community is now “staring down a gun barrel,” said Harry.
At its best, reconciliation means making right, the best we collectively can, past wrongs.
As we reflect on National Aboriginal History Month this June, our society seems to be evolving beyond just voicing land acknowledgements to making significant strides toward reconciliation.
Case in point is the barrier associated with the Cheekeye River Development.
It is a step toward protecting Nation members who should not have been put at known risk for as long as they were.
The current council isn’t responsible for the past—Harry himself praised this and previous councils for tackling the danger—but it is now part of healing those hurts today.
Let’s just hope construction of the barrier is finished before it is too late.
**Please note, this story was updated to include Mount Garibaldi's Squamish Nation name, Nch'ḵay̓.
