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Songhees Nation Slams Saanich’s Quadra McKenzie Plan: District provides meek response that protects the interests of developers over the natural and cultural environment.

On May 22, 2026 – the Songhees First Nation, wrote a strong rebuke of Saanich’s Quadra McKenzie Plan (QMP), noting that the plan does not protect the indigenous environment in the plan’s area, “from ongoing development pressures.”

The Songhees nation calls Saanich Council to “Postpone adoption of the Quadra McKenzie Plan pending meaningful consultation with Songhees Nation regarding Garry Oak ecosystem analysis, cumulative impacts, and long term stewardship planning”


By Sasha Izard
June 14, 2026


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On May 22, 2026 – the Songhees First Nation, wrote a strong rebuke of Saanich’s Quadra McKenzie Plan (QMP), noting that the plan does not protect the indigenous environment in the plan’s area, “from ongoing development pressures.”

This was their letter:

Songhees Nation

May 22, 2026

District of Saanich Council

The Songhees Nation Land & Environment Department would like to reassert Chief Sam’s statement (February 2nd, 2026):

Songhees Nation’s connection to qʷɫaʔəl (camas) food systems and qʷɫaʔəlʔənək (Garry Oak ecosystems) remains deeply rooted in our ancestry, cultural practices, stewardship responsibilities, and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge and rights. These food systems are not simply ecological features, they are living cultural artifacts that reflect Indigenous laws, governance, food sovereignty, and the stewardship of our ancestors, particularly women and family groups who sustained them over countless generations.

Today, only an estimated 1–3% of undisturbed qʷɫaʔəl food systems remain within the Capital Regional District. Despite this severe decline, Songhees people continue to rely on these ecosystems for traditional foods, medicines, harvesting practices, cultural teachings, and ecological stewardship.

The Quadra McKenzie Plan (QMP) fails to adequately recognize lək̓ʷəŋən Aboriginal Rights and does not provide meaningful protection for the qʷɫaʔəl food system from ongoing development pressures. The proposed land use framework continues patterns of fragmentation and loss affecting a critically endangered ecosystem that is integral to Songhees Nation’s constitutionally protected rights and cultural practices.

Saanich’s Urban Forest Strategy identifies Exceptional Trees requiring prioritized protection and retention as trees that:

Hold cultural significance and are historically native to the land; and

Support biodiversity and provide significant ecosystem services that are difficult or impossible to replace.

Songhees Nation emphasizes that these principles must extend beyond individual trees to include the interconnections of qʷɫaʔəlʔənək (Garry Oak ecosystems) within which they support various species. The ecosystem provides space and connections for plants, trees, pollinators, birds, animals, and insects.

As the QMP will guide land use and growth over the next 20 years, its decisions will have lasting impacts on Songhees Nation’s traditional lands, food systems, cultural practices and medicines. These impacts require meaningful consultation with Songhees Nation prior to the finalization or adoption of planning frameworks and policy directions.

Songhees Nation respectfully requests that Council:

Postpone adoption of the Quadra McKenzie Plan pending meaningful consultation with Songhees Nation regarding Garry Oak ecosystem analysis, cumulative impacts, and long term stewardship planning;

Include clear Garry Oak and qʷɫaʔəl food system stewardship goals within the QMP,
supported by measurable targets and accountability mechanisms recognizing these
ecosystems as integral to Songhees Nation’s Indigenous rights and cultural continuity; and

Develop and implement a responsive management framework outlining mitigation,
restoration, and stewardship measures where ecosystem thresholds or stewardship goals are not met due to development pressures.

Songhees Nation looks forward to working collaboratively with Council and staff to ensure future planning decisions respect rights, responsibilities, and the long-term protection of these culturally significant ecosystems for future generations.

Sincerely,

Andrew Easson
Land Referral Guardian

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Saanich staff replied to the letter by the Songhees First Nation on June 8, 2026 with only about a week before the scheduled Public Hearing on the Quadra McKenzie Plan:

Staff Response to Songhees Nation Letter on Quadra McKenzie Plan

PURPOSE

This Memo provides a response to the letter dated May 22, 2026, from Songhees
Nation regarding the Quadra McKenzie Plan (QMP). It outlines how the concerns raised are being addressed, in part, through the QMP’s existing policy direction, and identifies additional opportunities to advance this work through implementation of the QMP and other initiatives.

DISCUSSION

The Songhees Nation letter has raised concerns regarding recognition of lək ̓ ʷəŋən
Aboriginal Rights, protection of qʷɫaʔəl (camas) food systems and qʷɫaʔəlʔənək (Garry Oak ecosystems), cumulative effects of development, and the need for meaningful consultation and long-term stewardship.

Staff recognize the importance of these concerns and note that the Quadra McKenzie Plan responds to these issues at a strategic level. It is important to consider that, as a policy document within a defined geographic area of Saanich, there are inherent limitations in what the QMP can address. Other Provincial and District of Saanich plans and processes are better positioned to more concretely make progress on the issues raised by the Songhees Nation.

Quadra McKenzie Plan Directions

The Quadra McKenzie Plan, in conjunction with the Official Community Plan, provides higher level direction through broad land use and environmental objectives and policies. Topic specific plans, such as the Urban Forest Strategy, informed the development of the QMP, and will serve to provide more detailed actions to address key issues. Additionally, specific site conditions will be analyzed and addressed through the development application process.

The QMP contains significant environmental content at the objective / policy level.
Notably, the QMP has benefited from the recent adoption of the Biodiversity
Conservation Strategy and the Urban Forest Strategy. These strategies included
rigorous analysis, identification of key environmental assets, and District-wide policy directions. The Quadra McKenzie Plan (QMP) reinforces this direction by including policies that protect and enhance environmental features, support urban forest and green infrastructure objectives, and guide growth in a way that is more coordinated. A key element of this is the inclusion of Habitat Sites identified in the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. These sites, which are fully mapped in the QMP, are assigned Special Site designations, which will ensure additional consideration of environmental values and/or alternative development approaches are incorporated should these sites be considered for redevelopment.

The concerns raised by Songhees Nation emphasize that Garry Oak ecosystems
should be considered at the ecosystem level, rather than only through protection of
individual trees or isolated features. Staff note that the QMP’s direction related to
connected open spaces, green networks, and environmental quality is consistent with this broader systems approach. However, broader Provincial, regional, and municipal approaches are needed to truly look at the best ecosystem-level approaches.

Implementation Initiatives

The Songhees Nation letter highlighted the need for cumulative effects assessment,
ecosystem threshold identification, restoration priorities, and responsive management measures. These are important matters, but they are not typically resolved through high-level Centre, Corridor and Village plans. In staff’s view, implementation activities provide more practical and effective mechanisms to advance this work.

Quadra McKenzie Plan Implementation

As a long-range area plan, the QMP is intended to provide strategic policy direction,
including in the areas of environmental stewardship and land management.
Implementation of the QMP could provide an opportunity to further respond to the
concerns raised by Songhees Nation in a way that is tied to specific actions and
operational tools. This may include:

Review of development-related tools to improve consideration of ecological
sensitivity, connectivity, and restoration opportunities.
Integration of ecological objectives into public realm, park, and infrastructure
planning within the Plan area; and
Development of monitoring and reporting approaches for environmental outcomes
associated with growth and redevelopment.

Agriculture and Food Security Plan Update

The just initiated Agriculture and Food Security Plan update provides an additional
opportunity to address the food systems dimensions of the concerns raised in the
Songhees Nation letter. The letter makes clear that qʷɫaʔəl (camas) food systems
should not be understood only as ecological features, but also as living cultural and food systems connected to stewardship, harvesting, and intergenerational knowledge. Staff consider that this broader perspective aligns more directly with the scope of the Agriculture and Food Security Plan update than with the land use framework of the QMP. The Agriculture and Food Security Plan could provide an opportunity to consider:

How Indigenous food systems and culturally significant plant systems can be better
recognized in municipal food systems policy.
How ecological health and biodiversity contribute to food security; and
How food systems planning can be better aligned with reconciliation and biodiversity objectives.

Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Urban Forest Strategy Implementation

Saanich’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and the Urban Forest Strategy are likely the most appropriate avenues for responding to the ecosystem-related concerns raised by Songhees Nation. This work can support more detailed attention to:

Garry Oak ecosystem enhancement and restoration priorities.
Ecological connectivity.
Tree retention, protection, and planting on public lands.
Monitoring indicators and measurable stewardship objectives on public land.
Outreach and educational support for stewardship on private land; and
Related adaptive management approaches.

While these strategies provide the frameworks for helping to address these concerns, future decisions by Council will determine the timing, resourcing, and nature of implementation activities. The provincial housing mandates and associated requirements also must be considered in implementing any of these stewardship and ecological enhancement initiatives.

CONCLUSION

The Quadra McKenzie Plan provides strategic policy direction that will help to address Songhees Nation concerns. Notably, the identification of higher-level policy objectives and the inclusion of of habitat sites ensures that the areas of highest ecological value are identified and given greater consideration in planning and re-development processes. The more detailed matters raised in the letter are best advanced through implementation of the Quadra McKenzie Plan, the Agriculture and Food Security Plan update, and implementation of the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. Together, these processes, in conjunction with ongoing relationship building with the Songhees Nation, provide the most practical path to strengthen stewardship and respond to the concerns raised.

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Conclusion:

In my view, Saanich’s response reads to be condescending gaslighting of the Songhees Nation, as the District attempts to rush through a disastrous plan set for the June 16, 2026 public hearing on the QMP.

If implemented, the plan will be devastating to the traditional cultural eco-system of the Songhees people, covering the traditional indigenous eco-system with runaway development without adequate environmental protections in place.

Instead of endless token and hypocritical land acknowledgements, while implementing a profit-driven shortsighted development industry agenda that is wiping out the indigenous ecology at rapid pace. Saanich needs to pause and take indigenous relations seriously for once and for all. It is time for Saanich Council to drop the plan for the time being, and seriously consult with the indigenous, instead of moving forward with reckless abandon.


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See also:

Index of Articles and other material regarding indigenous issues. – CRD Watch Homepage

Index of CRD Watch articles concerning the environment/ecology. – CRD Watch Homepage

Index of articles regarding proposed plans for Quadra/McKenzie and transit-enabled development upzoning. – CRD Watch Homepage

The Fate of one of the Last Surviving Garry Oak Groves in Cadboro Bay Hangs in the Balance: The District of Saanich Doesn’t Appear to Know What Will Happen to it. – CRD Watch Homepage

“Trees can be managed, but they cannot be controlled. The only way to eliminate all risk is to eliminate all trees.” – Arborist Disclosure Statement to multiple municipalities. – CRD Watch Homepage