Pelican Watch goes before Council

Thanks to everyone who contributed suggestions for this presentation. Here it is in its entirety.


Good evening Mayor and Councillors. I am here representing a group called Pelican Watch. We’re concerned about spending $65 million on the White Water/Hydro Dam. Here, in brief, are 25 reasons why we think this is not a good idea:




1. Because the weir is visited daily, as a place of peaceful contemplation, by people from all walks of life, including those who can’t walk to the more inaccessible parts of Meewasin Trail.

2. Because River Landing isn’t even finished yet.

3. Because the sea do’s and power boats frighten the birds and wildlife away from the river upstream from the weir and there should be a part of the downtown waterway that is off limits to us.

4. Because the pelicans are free. That is, they don’t charge for hanging around and looking beautiful.

5. Because the pelican is a powerful emblem of Saskatoon’s ability to live with nature and not against it.

6. Because we and other provincial governments have already reduced the flow of the South Saskatchewan by 70%.

7. Because the Alberta government has a moratorium on new irrigation projects on the South Saskatchewan and if the Alberta government is worried about the river then it must really be in trouble.

8. Because the South Saskatchewan is, according to a recent World Wildlife Fund report, Canada’s most threatened river.

9. Because the river keeps us all alive--literally.

10. Because not only do Saskatoon citizens drink the South Saskatchewan River water, so do citizens of: Hague, Osler, Dalmany, Warman, Martensville, Clavet, Bradwell, Allan, Elstow, St. Louis, St. Isabelle de Bellevue, Wakaw, Cudworthy, Humboldt, Muenster, Annaheim, Lake Lenore …and an increasing number of acreages and estates.

11. Because the bird sanctuary on the island near the Mendel should remain a sanctuary, free of human interference.

12. Because the South Saskatchewan river is already dammed.

13. Because some years the South Saskatchewan River is so low you could wade across it.

14. Because we can’t afford another megaproject.

15. Because the folks who come to put their kayaks, tubes, and surf boards into the whitewater park will come in cars and SUVs and how green is that.

16. Because the delicate riparian zone between the river and the bank would be altered in favour of human traffic and haven’t we just built something called River Landing that does just that?

17. Because the idea that pelicans will fish in the same small section of water alongside high energy activities like kayaking is just good old fashion bafflegab.

18. Because the South Saskatchewan River is a wide, slow, ancient, dignified river, and to artificially force it into rapids and waves will make the river look—frankly—ridiculous.

19. Because we should be asking not what the river can do for us but what we can do for the river.

20. Because, as your mother would say, the river is not a toy.

21. Because people come down to the weir, to propose marriage to one another, to kiss, to argue about buying a new house while having coffee, to eat a burger while grabbing a few spare minutes to gaze peacefully at the river, they come to to watch the pelicans feed, to shed a tear over the death of their mother, they come to be soothed by falling water, by water where humans cannot and should not go.

22. Because the river is a living ecosystem and not merely a resource.

23. Because Saskatoon Light and Power should try harder to go green, rather than having token projects like one windmill and one mini dam.

24. Because pelicans fly to the river from Redberry Lake each summer morning and they come quietly, without disturbing anyone.

25. Because the South Saskatchewan River is already dammed, and what it actually needs is to be saved.