Sean LeRoy, MSc

Master’s thesis

LeRoy, S., 2002. Public process and the creation of a marine protected area at Race Rocks, British Columbia. Master's Thesis. School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia: Vancouver, B.C.

Abstract

The creation of a marine protected area in British Columbia is a political process that must reconcile the wants of several jurisdictions and interests. One forum for consultation and reconciliation is a consensus process, where individuals representing differing interests engage in long-term, face-to-face discussions, seeking agreement on strategy, plans, policies, and actions.

This study employed qualitative methods to examine the successes and shortcomings of the consensus process associated with the forthcoming designation of the XwaYeN (Race Rocks) Marine Protected Area, which will be Canada’s first marine protected area under the federal Oceans Act. Known as the Race Rocks Advisory Board, this process included government, aboriginal and stakeholder representatives, and was successful at negotiating consensus recommendations in support of designation. Notable among the recommendations were provisions for the creation of a no-take zone, and for the establishment of a co-management regime involving First Nations, British Columbia and Canada. However, once submitted, these recommendations were misrepresented in the federal government’s regulatory approval process, leading to protest by various First Nations and a halt to final designation. Both the misrepresentation and the protest involved groups that were not part of the Race Rocks Advisory Board.

This suggests that consensus processes for the creation of marine protected areas should include representatives from each part of the designation process, including delegates from all affected First Nations and all relevant branches of government. To achieve this, it is recommended that future consensus processes be jointly convened by Canada, British Columbia and affected First Nations, respecting the government-to-government relationship between the three parties. The joint convenors would negotiate what form of co-ordination and facilitation should take place in the process, and which stakeholders should be involved. In effect, this would be a co-managed consensus process— an experiment with a new form of public engagement, which is in keeping with the ‘learning-by-doing’ approach endorsed by federal policies for the creation of marine protected areas under the Oceans Act.

Related conferences/publications

LeRoy, S., Dobell, R., Dorcey, A., and Tansey, J., 2004. Public process and the creation of the Race Rocks Marine Protected Area. Refereed conference proceedings, Georgia Basin / Puget Sound Research Conference. Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative and Puget Sound Action Team: Vancouver, B.C.

LeRoy, S., 2003. Race Rocks: From Ecological Reserve to Marine Protected Area. Invited article, The Log: Friends of Ecological Reserves Newsletter. Spring 2003: pp. 8-9.

Dobell, R., LeRoy, S., and Yurick, D., 2003. Marine protected areas. Workshop background paper, 2003 National Conference, Ocean Management Research Network. Government Conference Centre: Ottawa, Ontario.

Charles, A., Dobell, R. Evans, A., and LeRoy, S., 2003. Human use of the oceans and marine resources: research topics and policy briefings. Workshop presentation, Tenth Annual Conference, Environmental Studies Association of Canada, with the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Dalhousie University: Halifax, N.S.

LeRoy, S., Dobell, R., Dorcey, A., and Tansey, J., 2003. Consensus vs. implementation: Toward the creation of a marine protected area at Race Rocks, British Columbia. Refereed paper presentation, Fifth International Conference, Science and Management of Protected Areas Association (SAMPAA). University of Victoria: Victoria, B.C.

LeRoy, S., Dobell, R., Dorcey, A., and Tansey, J., 2002. Public process and the creation of a marine protected area at Race Rocks, British Columbia. Refereed paper presentation, 2002 National Conference, Ocean Management Research Network. University of Ottawa: Ottawa, Ontario.

LeRoy, S., Dobell, R., Dorcey, A., and Tansey, J., 2002. Race Rocks: Public process and the creation of a marine protected area near Victoria, B.C. Paper presentation, Annual Meeting, Canadian Association of Geographers, with the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities. University of Toronto: Toronto, Ontario.

LeRoy, S., 2002. Race Rocks: Researching the dynamics of stakeholder involvement in the creation of a marine protected area near Victoria, B.C. Paper presentation, Annual Meeting, Canadian Association of Planning Students. Université de Montréal: Montréal, Québec.

Feedback from Race Rocks Advisory Board

Members of the Race Rocks Advisory Board were invited to submit anonymous corrections, clarifications and comments on the thesis.

November 2002 – It has been noted that there is a factual error in Section 6.2.3 (p. 60) of the thesis, which discusses the Terms of Reference of the Race Rocks Advisory Board. This section states that the Terms of Reference were endorsed in Meeting No. 3 (26 January 2000) of the Advisory Board, an assumption based on the minutes from that meeting. It turns out that this is incorrect. The Terms of Reference were never fully endorsed or ratified by the Advisory Board, but were simply dropped from discussion. Readers should keep this in mind when considering the interpretations, conclusions and recommendations of the thesis.

March 2003 – It has been noted that the numbering of Race Rocks Advisory Board meetings is not consistent between the thesis and the Race Rocks Advisory Board web page maintained by Pearson College. During the preparation of the thesis, I was not aware that the meeting at Dunsmuir Lodge (22 June 2000) was considered a full meeting, and did not have access to the meeting minutes (which were posted after the thesis was complete). Readers should refer to the dates of a given Advisory Board meeting when comparing between the thesis and the Pearson College web site.

Undergraduate thesis

LeRoy, S., 1999. Tsunami deposits at Fair Harbour, Vancouver Island. Undergraduate Honours Essay. Department of Geography, University of Victoria: Victoria, B.C.

Abstract

Sand deposits in estuaries on the west coast of Vancouver Island have been linked to tsunami run-up events at various intervals in the Holocene. In one such study, Benson et al. (1997) described three sand layers from the salt marsh at Fair Harbour, Vancouver Island, and provided evidence linking two of them to the tsunamis which followed the 1964 Alaska and 1700 Cascadia subduction earthquakes.

This study reassesses these findings, suggesting the origin of up to eight sand layers discovered at Fair Harbour. Stratigraphic mapping and interpretation is used to set out the results of particle-size, diatom and dendrochronological analysis of the sands and surrounding peats. All sands examined contained more tidal flat and less salt marsh diatoms than the peats, confirming a marine origin. Medium, sorted sands are located near the tidal channel which bisects the salt marsh, suggesting deposition by extreme tides. Coarser, sorted sands are found away from the tidal channel, and may have been deposited by storms. Unsorted sands are found at depth away from the tidal channel. Tree-ring dating suggests that one unsorted sand was deposited at about 1964, perhaps by the Alaska tsunami. Other unsorted sands form a layer which fines landward, located at the position of a bole whose outermost ring crossdates to about 1700. These sands may have been deposited by the Cascadia tsunami.

Related conferences/publications

LeRoy, S. and Smith, D., 1999. Big waves at Fair Harbour? Reviewing tree-ring, diatom and stratigraphic evidence of tsunami run-up at Fair Harbour, Vancouver Island. Paper presentation, Annual Meeting, Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers. Okanagan University College: Kelowna, B.C.

Undergraduate field studies

Carter, R., Laroque, C., LeRoy, S., Nelson, T. and Smith, D., 1999. Dendroglaciological investigations at Hilda Creek rock glacier, Banff National Park, Canadian Rocky Mountains. Géographie physique et quaternaire, 53 (3): 365-371.

Abstract

Dendroglaciological techniques are used to provide evidence of historical rock glacier activity at Hilda Creek rock glacier in the Canadian Rockies. The research focuses on the sedimentary apron of the outermost morainal deposit, where excavations in 1997 uncovered six buried tree boles that had been pushed over and entombed by distally spilled debris. Cross-sectional samples crossdated with a local Engelmann spruce tree-ring chronology were shown to have been killed sometime after 1856. Based on the extent of the excavation, the data indicates that Hilda Creek rock glacier has continued to advance along the present ground surface at a rate exceeding 1 cm/year.

Related conferences/publications

Carter, R., Laroque, C., LeRoy, S., Nelson, T., and Smith, D., 1998. Calender-dated Little Ice Age advance of the Hilda Glacier terminal moraine complex, Banff National Park, Alberta. Paper presentation, Annual Meeting, Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers. Kwantlen University College: Richmond, B.C.

For more information, please contact me at sean [dot] leroy [at] telus [dot] net.

Research archive