Environmentalists want to know what took government officials so long to notify stakeholders and the public about thousands of plastic bags found washed up on a protected area along the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve near Tofino.
The situation came to light Friday after a leaked Parks Canada memo detailed the discovery of close to 2,000 large plastic aquaculture feed bags found scattered on four of the islands.
The Pacific Rim Surfrider Foundation is a volunteer group that arranges beach clean-up campaigns in the area - and spokesperson Michelle Hall Region says valuable time was lost:
"Yeah - we could have gotten onto the beaches sooner. We could have used our own boat transportation to get out on the Broken Group of Islands."
Courtenay-Alberni NDP MP Gord Johns says he had to learn through the media last week. Johns is calling on Ottawa to take immediate action to clean up the mess, and has tabled a bill calling for a national strategy surrounding marine pollution.
A Parks Canada memo suggests a local aquaculture company could face charges in the matter, but the company has not yet been named.