The Gitga’at First Nation and LNG Canada broke ground on a new Marine Emergency Response and Research Facility (MERRF) at Hartley Bay, also known as Txalgiuw. The MERRF will serve as a base for Gitga’at-led marine activities, including vessel monitoring, rescue operations, training, and environmental research. The facility will also house and display a collection of local artifacts and cultural objects, many of them repatriated from distant locations. The facility’s architect, Vancouver-based Nancy Mackin, said its design is inspired by traditional Indigenous imagery and artwork, expressed in objects such as bentwood boxes. The MERRF, significantly funded by LNG Canada, represents a symbol of reconciliation and repatriation. Hartley Bay came to international attention in March 2006, when a BC Ferries passenger vessel named the Queen of the North sank nearby and Gitga’at members rescued dozens of ferry passengers adrift in life rafts, floating in almost total darkness.
