“This is a film you don’t want to miss if you want to see a real life courtroom drama between a whistleblower and large government and industry.”
Director, Scott Renyard
Courtroom – Educational – Legal – Sockeye Salmon
Background
The crash of 19 stocks of Fraser River sockeye over a 15 year period forced the Canadian Government to close all fishing from 2007 to 2009. The decline was quick and dramatic. It looked like Fraser River sockeye populations were going extinct. The Canadian government, desperate for answers, or at least looking for a way to deflect criticism, struck an Inquiry led by Commissioner Bruce Cohen that would take over two years to complete.
The Whistleblower
Alexandra Morton, an independent biologist, lives in the pristine Broughton Archepelago region of British Columbia’s pacific coast. Morton began her career studying Orca’s in the area, but something changed over thirty years ago. Fish farms began to move into her area and set up farming operations to raise imported Atlantic salmon. Morton, at first, was supportive of the industry but later discovered that the industry brought with it a number of negative impacts on the wild fish populations. Farmed fish were encouraged to graze on wild juvenile fish and the concentration of fish in the pens amplified both exotic and endemic diseases. As a result of her findings, she became a vocal opponent of open net pen fish farms.
It was also Morton who brought public pressure on the government to take the matter seriously. Years of letter writing campaigns and public protests and speeches made her a vocal leader in a fight to close the destructive farms. Thousands of protestors walked down Vancouver Island and stood on the lawn of the BC Provincial legislature with her on May 8, 2010, to voice their concerns about what fish farms were doing to wild salmon populations. Morton’s work took her to court many times prior to the Cohen Commission hearings and she won key cases against the industry. Her days before the Inquiry were filled with anticipation and she filled every seat in the courtroom.
Her Adversaries
During her testimony, it was clear that the Provincial and Federal Governments and Industry were teaming up against Morton to discredit her and her work. She was not allowed to give evidence as an independent biologist, but could speak only as someone on what was called the “perspectives” panel. Lawyers for both industry and Government attacked her credentials and did not want her research work to stand as evidence. As a filmmaker, it was a remarkable David versus Goliath battle. One determined woman fighting to protect her home against imperialistic forces that included her own government. This is a must see film because never before has the alliance between big government and industry been so overt.
