Dr Paul Kariya is Senior Policy Advisor for the Coastal First Nations Great Bear Initiative, an alliance of nine BC First Nations which focuses on job creation and protection of the Great Bear Rainforest. Prior to this, Paul was the Executive Director of Clean Energy BC, and Executive Director of Pacific Salmon Foundation. He has worked in the public sector, both federally and provincially, and was an adjunct faculty member at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC. Paul holds a BA (Hon) from UBC and a MA and PhD from Clark University in Massachusetts, and is a Trudeau Foundation Mentor. Paul grew up on the West Coast of Vancouver Island as the son of a Japanese-Canadian salmon fisherman. Love of the ocean and for God’s creation comes from these beginnings. Paul is married and has three adult children.
This summer, after 10 years as an international trustee, I retired from the board of A Rocha. How is it that the son of an immigrant fisherman from Japan came to be involved with creation care?
It is funny what people say when you tell them you work in conservation. Their reactions are very varied, depending on how you describe it. But if you say you work for a charity (true), surprisingly often people think you are going to ask them for money (false). So as we charity workers actually depend upon people’s generosity, is there a good way to go fishing?
