In a recent speech to the Provincial legislature, MLA Jordan Sturdy described a horrific incident involving horses in a car accident on the Sea to Sky Highway. He said a dozen horses have been killed on this highway in the past year.
Sturdy said the situation was unacceptable and questioned why the provincial NDP government was ignoring it. He said that despite expressing concerns and requesting action, the different organizations responsible for addressing this issue have declined to take on the responsibility. Recently, Mayor of Pemberton also wrote a letter to the Province asking for urgent action on this issue.
Below is MLA Jordan Sturdy’s transcript of the entire speech:
Imagine for a moment that you are driving the Sea to Sky Highway. It’s blowing, and it’s cold, mixed rain and snow.
You round a corner, and without warning, in front of you is a herd of 60 horses stretched right across the highway. Even as you hit the brakes, you smash into them. Horses go down. Bones crunch. A younger horse slams into your hood and slides off to the side before it comes through your windshield. Your vehicle tumbles off the road and comes to rest upside down in the ditch — which, fortunately, is not full of water.
This scenario happened right outside my farm this past fall. I pulled onto the driveway early in the morning and immediately saw the red and blue lights of the RCMP eerily illuminating dead horses — guts, bones and blood spread across the highway. We learned later that two other horses had wandered off to die alone.
A dozen horses have been killed in the last year or so, and many more over the last decade. Mr. Speaker, you ask: how can this happen? Well, that’s a great question. This area is not open range, not a designated livestock district, not a pound district, yet livestock are left to roam — a situation unacceptable elsewhere in the province.
Would the Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, the Kootenays or the Cariboo tolerate such hazards on their numbered highways? I think not. So why is this chronic issue, on Highway 99 in the Pemberton Valley, ignored? Dozens of horses are killed, vehicles are damaged, and people are hurt. Despite the risks to both animal and human life, expressions of concern are put forward, and then the responsibility is deflected.
Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Forests, Solicitor General, RCMP, Ministry of Transportation and the SPCA all decline to take on the responsibility. Even a simple request to reduce the speed limit from 80 to 60 kilometres an hour has so far been refused.
Meanwhile, damage to public and private property continues, horses die, and people will, and the government does not act. It is unacceptable.