Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Society

The Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Society (MABS) first came to my attention back on

February 7 2024 when the town released that they had entered into an 11 month lease for the town owned Leigh House building at the cost of $2000 per month including GST. I found this a little odd as I had seen the towns August 2023 request for proposal advertisement for this property which indicated that they were expecting minimum rent to be $2750 plus GST a month and that they were looking for a commitment of a minimum 36 month term.

In the October 2 2024 regular council meeting, eight months later, council released to the public that they had authorized staff to enter into another 11 month lease with a monthly lease fee of $2000 inclusive of GST. No start date or end date was given, but presumably this is an extension of the lease disclosed on February 7 2024. Then strangely, we see on the October 23 regular council meeting agenda a mere three weeks later, yet another announcement of an 11 month lease to MABS. 3 leases within a 10 month period all conducted behind closed doors, in closed meetings.

The community charter section 90(1)(e) permits in camera meetings if the subject matter being considered relates to the disposition of land or improvements (i.e. a lease), but only if council considers that disclosure could reasonably be expected to harm the interest of the municipality. After reading the rest of the article, readers can draw their our conclusions as to why council chose to discuss these leases in a closed meeting.

So who is MABS, what are their objectives and who funds them?

I spent some time on their websites and emailed them for some details with respect to their structure and funding, as I was curious and the connections are not obvious.

Lets deal with acronyms first:

Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region (MABR) is a physical region of land that UNESCO has designated as a Biosphere Reserve.

Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Research Institute (MABRRI) appears to be a science based research group operating within Vancouver Island University. MABRRI focuses on research and community engagement initiatives primarily within MABR, but also to uphold VIU academic research plan by working on projects across Vancouver Island. Their funding is primarily from through Environment and Climate Change Canada's Nature Legacy Program.

I was unable to determine if MABRRI is actually a legal entity.

Vancouver Island University (VIU) originally initiated the pursuit of the UNESCO biosphere designation. VIU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the town of Qualicum Beach (TQB) in the fall of 2015, which highlights that all parties pay their own costs.

Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Society (MABS) is a society and the legal entity that actually rents space from the town to operate the public outreach center for MABR. MABS may also be the beneficiary of several Fee for Service agreements issued by the town, (Brant Festival and Thursday night market), again discussed only behind closed doors in closed meetings and no documents have been released.

Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region Roundtable (MABRR) functions as the governing body of the region. Hosting quarterly meetings, involving local and senior levels of government, community conservation groups, private industry, members of the public and VIU students and faculty. Members do not appear to be elected and it is not clear how you become added to the roundtable. You can read the minutes of the their recent meeting here.

Why should Qualicum Beach residents care?

The Federal government has set a goal of conserving 30% of Canada's land and water by 2030 and is providing the research funding to identify appropriate land and water to be protected.

On Sept. 11 2024 MABRRI representatives made a pitch to town council, to permit access by MABRRI team members to complete in depth case studies on 5 separate areas within the town. These case studies are to determine if the properties are eligible for designation as protected areas (PA) or other effective area-based conservation (OECM). The intended effect of both property conservation designations, in general, is to provide a mechanism to permanently protect biodiversity and is intended to be in effect for the long term and not easily reversed. No decision about research access was made at that council meeting.

Then, later in the same council meeting, a council motion was made and unanimously carried, directing staff to provide a letter of support to MABR to include the 50 acres of town owned land known as the Heritage Forest be added into MABR core area zonation for review by UNESCO. The Heritage Forrest already has appropriate legal covenants in place to ensure the land is protected. What is unclear is why we would want to formalize yet another arrangement, and what effect adding this property into the MABR zonation might have on QB residents.

Parksville was approached to do the same with the Parksville Wetlands on September 4th 2024. However, Parksville council chose to refer the matter back to staff for a follow up report addressing legal considerations, along with public access and enjoyment. Parksville council appears to be more concerned about understanding the ramifications of this action despite pressure to meet MABRRI deadlines.

Conclusion

The challenge here is the blurring of the lines, and the potential for conflicts of interest. Collaboration is fine but we need to ensure due consideration is being given to the interests of the residents of Qualicum Beach. How much are we, the QB tax payer, contributing to the operation and marketing of the UNESCO designated biosphere? Where is the accountability when unelected roundtables negotiate transactions for the benefit of their causes with our elected officials behind closed doors?

The properties that MABRRI plans to study are several of our well head locations. Does anyone know what would happen if we allow these properties to become protected areas and then need to make changes to our water distribution system sometime down the road which might involve new underground piping, above ground storage or altered road access? Who would we be negotiating with UNESCO? The federal government? What if the wells run dry and the land is no longer suitable for that purpose, and but for the conservation designation, could be used for housing? I am struggling to see any benefits for the residents of QB and a lot unknowns.

There is a lot of undeveloped land on the island and in Canada. I fail to see why municipalities should feel any urgent obligation to contribute to Canada's self imposed conservation targets. It may be easier for the federal government to have researchers do their work in urban areas, but should they not be focusing their efforts on the large swaths of undeveloped land before making it harder for communities to build and maintain the infrastructure we need in our small towns? Why are our elected representatives so eager to pursue this goal?

Marie Noel

October 20 2024

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