Premier John Horgan says he's appointed his top deputy to review the integrity of the province's animal testing laboratory after concerns were raised about farmed salmon by a federal scientist.
Chief Ernest Alfred and several members of the First Nation at Alert Bay have been staging a protest at the Marine Harvest Fish Farm on Swanson Island. Chief Alfred says he's pleased that the BC NDP government is stepping forward on this issue.
"The general public needs to know that disease is present in fish farms in and around our territories and there are officials who have been trying to hide it. So, it is about time we had someone like Ms. Popham and Mr. Horgan that are promising to take a look at this and launch an investigation and we couldn't be more satisfied with that."
Premier Horgan says Don Wright will head the review after the Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientist raised concerns about disease test results conducted at the province's Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford.