After all is said and done, the Fisheries and Oceans Canada Squamish Field Office on Hunter Place is staying put.
A representative for the department told The Chief Friday afternoon that Public Services and Procurement Canada Leasing has secured a four-year lease with the new owner at the existing location at 1120 Hunter Pl. from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2024 for the DFO Squamish Field Office.
The office serves the entire Sea to Sky Corridor.
In April, the department said that the lease on the current building was being terminated in spring of 2019 as the property had been sold.
Local conservationists had heard that the office was being relocated outside of Squamish, which was of great concern to them.
“Without an office here in Squamish, their response time is going to be very long if they need to travel all the way from Vancouver to deal with infractions,” Randall Lewis, the environmental co-ordinator for the Squamish Nation said in April. “They have enough issues dealing with the existing capacity at this point in time, because of all the cutbacks.”
At the time, officials repeated that no final decision has been made, but emails forwarded to The Squamish Chief by a third party outside the department suggested that initial discussions were already underway to relocate enforcement staff to Steveston by March 31, 2019.
In late October, MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones announced to The Chief that the office was definitely staying in Squamish, but that a local location had yet to be secured.
~With files from Haley Ritchie
