VICTORIA, B.C. — Maybe it’s time for a Mr. Floatie comeback tour.
U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, on Wednesday urged the Canadian parliament to stop dumping raw sewage from Victoria into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Mr. Floatie is the 6-foot character, costumed as a bow-tie-wearing, sailor-capped piece of excrement, who tried to shame the Canadians into doing just that. But the Victoria suburb of Esquimalt declined to build a sewage treatment plant last spring.
“It’s time for Canada to solve this sewage problem,” Kilmer said Wednesday.
“I grew up in Port Angeles, right across the water from Victoria. So it concerns me when after many years, Canada continues to send raw sewage right into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
“I’ll continue to call on our Canadian partners to work on a solution so we can ensure this does not impact our shared waters any longer.”
The meeting where Kilmer made his statement was part of a Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group that included members of the Canadian Senate and House of Commons.
Meanwhile, metropolitan Victoria, which has 300,000 people, continues to flush raw sewage from two 39-inch pipes into the Strait, as it has despite decades of protest that included appearances by Mr. Floatie, in reality Canadian schoolteacher James Skwarok.
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has let stand her threat to withhold financial support from communities tasked with providing sewage treatment but declined to involve the provincial government further.
In answer to Kilmer, the British Columbia Ministry of Environment said: “The Capital Regional District [Victoria and environs] has to be in compliance with federal regulations by 2020. This is not up for debate.”
However, the ministry said in a statement to the Peninsula Daily News:
“This is a local government issue, and the parties involved need to work together to meet the requirements for sewage treatment in the region.
“How locally elected municipal officials in this region achieve consensus on sewage treatment logistics is not something for the provincial government to dictate.”
Mr. Floatie most recently appeared to greet the MV Coho in Victoria Harbor on July 1, 2014.
In the past, he’s been a photo favorite with tourists and once attempted to run for mayor of Victoria.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
