Victoria residents Anne and Gary Relyea joined hundreds at the Legislature to protest plans to expand the Malahat corridor of the Trans-Canada Highway. (Ben Fenlon/Goldstream Gazette)
While salmon quietly made their way upstream to spawn at Goldstream Provincial Park, kilometres away in Downtown Victoria protesters raised their voices about a looming threat to their future.
Gathered on the lawn of the Legislature Oct. 22, First Nation leaders, community members and environmental allies called on the province to halt plans to widen 1.7 kilometres of the Trans-Canada Highway near Goldstream River (SELEKTEL).
A project they say "offers no new transportation benefits," as the highway would remain one lane in each direction.
"Because really it's not an expansion, it's destruction," said an emotional WSANEC elder Carl Olsen to the roughly 400 strong crowd.
If the project proceeds, Olsen believes it will cause irreversible harm to the river's salmon-spawning grounds and lasting damage to the surrounding ecosystem.
First announced in 2018, the Goldstream Median Barrier Widening project proposes widening 1.7 kilometres of the highway near the provincial park, plus the installation of over 1.5 kilometres of a median barrier.
The province says it will improve the safety and reliability of the Malahat corridor.
"Rather than steamrolling through that place, why don't you drive through with just a little reverence," said former MLA and Tsartlip lead negotiator Adam Olsen.
"Why not move part of what needs to be moved on a train ... move more people by bus."
For nearly three years, Olsen has been a familiar face for Malahat drivers. Every Tuesday from 10 a.m to noon, whatever the weather, he has stood beside Finlayson Arm Road holding placards to raise awareness of the province's plan.
It started small, he told the Legislature crowd - just him and two others - but has since grown in momentum, with about 70 people joining a recent Tuesday protest.
Olsen also receives hundreds of letters from Greater Victoria students who have visited the park.
"Kill the stream, you kill the salmon - then you kill the orca," he said, reading a letter from a North Saanich student.
"So he understands that part of it more than a lot of people do," Olsen added, gesturing toward the Legislature behind him.
The protest at the Legislature was organized with support from the Wilderness Committee and a grassroots group of activists known as the Goldstream Protectors.
Among the hundreds who showed up in support were Victoria couple Anne and Gary Relyea, retired opera singers turned activists who have previously joined other environmental protests.
"They're going to destroy a salmon stream just to put a (median barrier) down and speed up the traffic - and take down 700-plus trees - some of them are old growth - it's obscene," they said.
Friends Jennifer Dyck and Jayanti Jones, who live top of the Malahat, agree that the province's plans are "ridiculous."
"Once they cut down the trees, the water will be too warm for the fish," said Jones.
Last year, the province earmarked $162 million for the plan in its February 2024 budget. But because of the area's "complexity and environmental sensitivities," the province says a detailed timeline or project cost is not yet available.
"The sensitivity of widening the highway to accommodate this median barrier through a provincial park - a pristine watershed - is not lost on us," said Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth in a emailed statement.
He added that the ministry is continuing to consult with local First Nations and stakeholders on the project to address environmental and cultural concerns.
Wrapping up his speech at the Legislature, Olsen urged the crowd to keep fighting for the river.
"When you love a place, you learn how to care for it," he said. "And if you care for it, then you learn how to love it.
" ... Be a voice for what can't be a voice for themselves - save the stream, save the salmon."