Proceedings - Teaching and Learning Centre - Simon Fraser ...

Fraser River Action Plan 3rd Research Workshop
Opening Remarks
B. Wilson - Director, Environmental Conservation Branch, Environment Canada
I would like to welcome you to this, the third Environment Canada FRAP Research Workshop.
My name is Brian Wilson and, as director of the Environmental Conservation Branch in the Pacific and Yukon
region, I am responsible for overseeing Environment Canada’s role in the Fraser River Action Plan.
Once upon a time, I was a research scientist and because, or maybe in spite of that, I have always respected the
fundamental importance of good science to the progress of a modern society. Fifteen years ago, I abandoned
active research to pursue a career in management where I have learned the equally fundamental importance of:
having clients for our science; making science relevant to those clients; and, using our science to change the way
we think about the environment and how we make decisions that affect the environment.
From the very beginnings of FRAP, we realized that our success in delivering sustainable development in the
basin would depend in large measure on our scientific understanding of the Fraser basin and how it functions
under both normal and stressed conditions. As a result, the FRAP Commitment to research has been both broad
in its scope and intensive in its application. Indeed, one of the legacies of FRAP will be the new knowledge of
the Fraser basin that has been gained. But a far more important legacy of the FRAP Research Program will be
the impact that this new knowledge and understanding will have on decision makers throughout the basin, and
through them, on the long-term health of the Fraser basin environment.
We are at a critical juncture in the Fraser River Action Plan. We have five years of effort under our belts and the
program has two more years to go. People are beginning to ask what we have achieved so far and what we
expect to deliver in the way of results by the end of the program. Taxpayers are wanting to know what return
they can expect on their substantial investment in the program. Governments are asking what relevance the
program has for them and the general public is asking, “What is this thing called ‘FRAP’ anyway?”
Clearly, we need to do a good job of profiling the program and marketing its results. Clearly, we need to do a
good job of getting our science to decision-makers in a form that is both understandable and useful to them. And
clearly, we need to link our science to results — results that are meaningful, measurable and relevant to our
clients.
The attendance at this year’s workshop marks a departure from previous years in that only one-third of the
participants are people who have been actively conducting research under the Fraser River Action Plan. The
other two-thirds of the participants are people who have expressed an interest in sharing and using our newfound
knowledge and understanding of the basin — in other words, our “clients.”
It is, therefore, important that we find a balance over the next three days between scientific rigor and the need to
make our science relevant to clients and decision-makers. It is important that we talk passionately about our
research, but without so much of the jargon that is only decipherable by other scientists. It is important that we
talk about the application of our research in the real world of economic and social priorities. And, it is important
that we welcome and encourage the active participation of non-scientists throughout this workshop. They are,
after all, both the clients of our research and the potential users of our research findings.
We began FRAP with a commitment to good science, but it was Henry Wordsworth Longfellow who said that
“Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending.” With five years down and two years to go, we are
well into that transition between beginning and ending. It is, therefore, critical that we now begin to focus our
attention on the art of ending and consider very seriously the FRAP research legacy that we want to bequeath to
the basin and its decision-makers.
With that in mind, I want to wish you a very stimulating, productive and relevant workshop.
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