The Liberal government’s decision to close British Columbia’s open-net salmon farms by 2029 exposes their disregard for the livelihoods and well-being of First Nations who hinder the party’s lofty, and often shaky, environmental goals.

Jonathan Wilkinson, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources announced in Vancouver on Wednesday that B.C.’s open-net salmon farms will be forced to close and transition from sea to land by the end of the decade. Making the announcement in the city, rather than the northern coastal community of Klemtu on remote Swindle Island, was an unmistakably cowardly choice.