Every summer, NDP MP Taylor Bachrach solo paddles 174 kilometres down the Kispiox and Skeena rivers in northwestern British Columbia, encountering rapids, storms, grizzly bears and spectacular scenery in an extraordinary effort to connect with his constituents.
This is a far cry from the summer barbecues that many of his fellow MPs gather for when the House of Commons recesses — for him, it’s a chance to enjoy the great outdoors with the people who sent him to Ottawa.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunities to meet under fluorescent lights in a conference room … and that’s important, but there’s certainly something special about sitting on the bank of the river and talking about this place that we call home,” he told CBC News.
Skeena-Bulkley Valley is one of the most sparsely populated federal electorates in Canada, with a population of just under 90,000, one third of whom are Indigenous, covering an area of over 325,000 square kilometres.
It also has one of the most beautiful and isolated landscapes in Canada, and local people still consider the river to be the lifeblood of their community.
“I drive up and down the highway probably 50 times a year and always look out at the river and reminisce about years gone by,” Bachrach said.
“A few years ago I had the idea to visit these communities the old-fashioned way, by river, and that would be a great way to connect with people.”
Bacharach said he always wanted to inject a bit of his personality into his role as a legislator, and canoeing has always been a passion, so the tradition was born.
His first voyage was in 2022, with his third in the summer of 2024. Each year he sets sail on the Kispiox River, a tributary of the Skeena River about 25 kilometres north of Hazelton, and disembarks five days later in Terrace.
Unexpected Visitor
Bachrach made the journey without help, loading everything he needed into his canoe, camping on the riverbank and visiting villages along the way that now await his arrival each summer.
This summer he visited Anspayax (Kispiox), Sik-et-Dak (Glen Voel), Githammax, Gitzegkura, Gitwanggak and Gitaus, the Kitselas Indigenous community.
“People who spend a lot of time on the river know I’m doing this trip, and I bump into the same people every year,” he says, “but of course there are always surprises.”
Heavy rains hit Baklerak’s first camping night of the summer, and when he called residents of Kispiox to let them know he was coming, they warned him that a large grizzly bear had been spotted eating salmon near his planned campsite.
“We were very grateful to have people from the village who came and checked on us throughout the night. Luckily no bears showed up and everything was OK,” he said.
He wasn’t so lucky last year.
“I was camping right near the confluence of the Kitseguekla and Skeena rivers,” he says, “and it’s an area with lots of active bears that eat fish.”
“Something woke me up in the middle of the night, so I put on my headlamp, opened my tent door and saw a young grizzly bear wandering around.”
Bachrach said he kept his bear spray in his holster and used “harsh words” to scare the bear away, then spent the night on guard for it to return.
“This is bear habitat and I’m visiting so I try to be respectful of the situation,” he said.
Batlack said connecting with First Nations people and their history is a highlight of his summer trips down the Skeena River.
This year, he stopped near Kitselas Gorge and hiked to see petroglyphs, rock carvings left by the area’s indigenous people thousands of years ago.
It was a “really powerful place that reflects the long history of the Tsimshian people,” he said.
On his way down the cliffs, he met members of the Kitselas First Nation who were fishing in the river and discussed issues important to them, particularly the status of salmon stocks.
“There are people who depend on salmon and there are a lot of issues surrounding the protection and restoration of wild salmon stocks in the Skeena River, but it’s not just the Skeena River, it’s all across British Columbia,” he said, “so it’s always a hot topic.”
Bachrach said he witnessed an Indigenous father take his son on his first fishing trip and was given salmon for food along the journey.
“This job brings me great joy and is different to other roles that involve flying back and forth across Canada to attend business in the House of Commons,” he said.
“It’s a tradition I hope to continue for as many years as I can, trying to do it a little differently each year and connect in different ways.”
