Several members of Tsleil-Waututh were among more than one thousand people who participated in the second Great Climate Race in Vancouver as they ran or walked support renewable energy in their own backyards.

On a sunny morning in Stanley Park on Oct. 30, hundreds of people competed in races to raise money for two solar projects in BC.

About $30,000 was toward the solar installation for Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s new administration and health building that is now under construction. The solar panels are expected to produce 47,000 kwh of electricity every year.

Other funds will go toward powering the Orca Lab research station on Hanson Island
in the waters of the Inside Passage off northern Vancouver Island.

Benjamin West was an organizer of the Great Climate Race and also works with the nation’s Sacred Trust initiative. He said Tsleil-Waututh’s efforts to go solar are contributing to a wider push for renewables in the Vancouver area.

“The project might be the biggest renewable energy project in the Lower Mainland if it’s constructed,” he said. “It’s obviously a pretty significant project for a number of reasons.”

Charlene Aleck, a Tsleil-Waututh councillor, captained a team from the nation that walked 2.5 km in the race. They have also been fundraising for the solar project. The community has so far raised more than $20,000 towards a $40,000 goal.

Aleck said the solar project will not only be environmentally friendly, but it will be a powerful symbol for the nation that has been leading the battle against expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline for many years.

“Now on one side of the Burrard Inlet, you will see this beautiful renewable energy project being built, and on the other side you will see the existing Kinder Morgan oil tanker terminal,” she said.