“I am so grateful that the terms of reference for the Inquiry allowed me, an independent filmmaker, to become the unofficial videographer for the Cohen Inquiry. I hope these videos will serve the Canadian public for decades as we continue to strive for better protection of our wild fish populations and, in particular, the sockeye salmon“.
Director, Scott Renyard
Sockeye salmon – Inquiry – Documentary – Video library – Science
How It Began
In the pouring rain, I filmed Alexandra’s speech to protesters at the Vancouver Art Gallery. After the rally, I decided to head into the Federal courthouse and check out the Cohen Inquiry which had recently started hearing testimony on the decline of the Fraser River sockeye populations. The general view of the protesters outside was that the Inquiry was nothing more than a way for the government to delay or distract the rising public unrest over the negative impacts of open net pen fish farms. They wanted action, not talk. Wild fish populations have been declining since the mid 1980’s, yet here we were 30 years later and still no action.
And then something unexpected happened. I sat down in the back row of the courtroom and thought it would be great to get an empty shot of the room for my current film. No sooner had the thought entered my mind and a young woman, Carla Shore, sat next to me with an official name badge on her sweater. I asked her at a break if she knew who I could talk to about filming in the courtroom. As luck would have it, she was the media contact for the inquiry. After filling out some paperwork, I was not only given permission to film the empty room, I was given permission to film the hearings in progress. The next day, she led me into the courtroom to the designated camera position right next to the Commissioner’s bench at the front. I wasn’t just a fly on the wall, I was a fly right in the middle of the dinner table.
Re-jigging my Life
After a couple of days, I asked Carla, “How long can I stay?” And her response was as long as I liked because there was a designated camera position allowed in the terms of reference for the Inquiry. I was so disturbed by the decline of our wild pacific salmon populations, I decided to stay and film as much of the hearings as possible as my contribution to the process as a public service if nothing else. I had no idea that the hearings would last another year and I would film 119 out of 133 days of testimony. It cost me nearly $20,000.00 just to store all the footage I shot that year.
The Enormous Task
During this time, protesters that I knew well wanted me to publish the most provocative clips possible to put pressure on the Government to do something about the fish farms. But I adopted a more apolitical stance because I wanted to stay for the duration. I thought there would be a more lasting legacy for the information from the Inquiry if I recorded as much of it as possible. So, I put the finishing of The Pristine Coast on hold and pressed forward with a massive task. Each day became a marathon as I would record all day long, back up footage at night and somehow find time to deal with the demands of my day job in the film industry. By the end of it all, I fell ill and had to hire my friend, Mark Noda, to film that last few days while I recovered.
The Cohen Inquiry had 2147 official exhibits that were taken from approximately 500,000 documents on which Commissioner Cohen based his report. I thought it would be appropriate to label my contribution to the Inquiry by calling the video recording of the hearings, Exhibit 2148 (watch here: https://thegreenchannel.tv/film/exhibit-2148-the-uncertain-future-of-the-fraser-river-sockeye). The Inquiry was not tasked with laying blame which, perhaps, led to it not finding a definitive smoking gun. But, Cohen did have a list of recommendations which both sides of the issue point to, to support their position on open net fish farms.
The Making of Two Inquiry Films
After completing The Pristine Coast, I decided to take what I thought were the scientific highlights of the hearing and turned those into the feature doc, Trial of An Iconic Species (watch here: https://thegreenchannel.tv/film/trial-of-an-iconic-species). I’m very proud of this film because it’s a bit of a who-dun-it. A good portion of the testimony that is included in this film is very compelling and has all the elements of a great courtroom drama. Most of this testimony played to an empty gallery and, except for the participants on the day, I was the only witness. I’m proud that I was there to record this testimony and able to share it with the public.
I ended up making a second feature film about this inquiry. Perhaps one of my biggest surprises was that our Provincial and Federal governments were not neutral parties in the proceedings. In fact, they were very pro fish farm. Until this experience, I always assumed our governments would be neutral and be the arbiters seeking a resolution between conflicting stakeholders. But the two days of Alexandra Morton’s testimony was so politically charged that I realized it should stand on its own. I thought it was very important to show how a whistle blower was treated during a Canadian inquiry that is supposed to just be a fact finding mission. As a result, I made the film, The Unofficial Trial of Alexandra Morton (watch here: https://thegreenchannel.tv/film/the-unofficial-trial-of-alexandra-morton). There are many layers to this film and I hope that many people will get to see it.
The Result
In the end, Exhibit 2148 was an enormous task that resulted in 423 episodes from 23641 minutes. This series is lightly edited and I hope will be a useful resource for researchers, decision makers and the public.