(Councillor Bruce Findlay)
North Cowichan councillor has said that chemtrails, ‘dismissed as conspiracy theories, seem to be happening’
Bruce Findlay’s comments on climate change have sparked a storm of controversy
North Cowichan councillor Bruce Findlay’s comments that climate change is natural have generated a storm of pre-election controversy on social media.
During a July 8 discussion on climate projections at the Cowichan Valley Regional District, Findlay asserted, without providing evidence, that “99.96 per cent of climate change is natural. The other .04 per cent is potentially human caused.” (https://www.sixmountains.ca/article/2be1b122-a9fc-47b2-9b1b-43a40db4f6f2 )
Findlay's position on climate change seemed less rigid almost four years ago.
On December 7, 2022, shortly after his election, Findlay told council that “we’re all aware there is climate change occurring, both natural and man made….”
But he didn't stop there.
He went on to reference weather modification, cloud seeding and geoengineering, adding that “chemtrails, as they’ve been dubbed and dismissed as conspiracy theories, seem to be happening.”
He said, “should we not know what is being sprayed above us and for what purpose, not only for climate change concern reasons but also for the health and well being of our residents?”
The motion contained no reference to chemtrails.
That confused other councillors.
“I have a relative who is against the chemtrails and, of course, we have a very verbose discussion during these meetings and for me if I’m going to vote on this I need to know whether it’s about chemtrails or it’s about cloud seeding,” said councillor Mike Caljouw.
Responded Findlay: “That’s the reason for the request, is to say ‘what is happening above our skies?’ We see lines periodically, and I think from the communication we have received from the residents there’s obviously concern of chemtrails, specifically, but chemtrails is what's been used as the conspiracy theory word rather than geoengineering, so my suggestion is in order for these chemtrails to be sprayed above the skies in our country and into the U.S. so close to our border is who's doing it and why. I think that's the bottom line.”
(Findlay made the motion after pulling a letter from the consent agenda that sought a ban on chemtrails: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=11506 )
(North Cowichan video, December 7, 2022)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says chemtrails is a shortening of the term chemical trails. (https://www.epa.gov/regulations-emissions-vehicles-and-engines/Contrails )
“It is a term some people use to inaccurately claim that contrails resulting from routine air traffic are actually an intentional release of dangerous chemicals or biological agents at high altitudes for a variety of nefarious purposes, including population control, mind control, or attempts to modify the weather.”
According to the North American Weather Modification Council (https://nawmc.org/faq/ ), cloud seeding improves a cloud’s ability to produce precipitation by adding tiny particles called ice nuclei. The practice is also used to reduce hail from thunderstorms, and eliminate fogs that reduce visibility, usually at busy airports, the council says.
Findlay proposed a motion — seconded by councillor Tek Manhas, who has also questioned climate change — asking staff to write senior governments for information on cloud seeding.
(Councillor Tek Manhas)
Mayor Rob Douglas said he wouldn’t feel comfortable being associated with such a letter. Ditto for then-deputy mayor Debra Toporowski (now Cowichan Valley MLA).
Chief Administrative Officer Ted Swabey warned that council is wading into a highly controversial issue, saying “it has a lot of emotion attached to it, as to whether it’s believable or not and social media has caused a lot of consternation about people not supporting the view or supporting the view.”
Findlay’s motion evaporated into thin air.
Council instead approved a motion by Councillor Christopher Justice to postpone consideration of Findlay’s motion “indefinitely.”
The council discussion on chemtrails went unreported at the time, but sixmountains.ca received a tip after publishing on Findlay's climate-change comments to the CVRD.
Six Mountains has asked Findlay to comment on his remarks.
More recently, Findlay has fought back at his on-line detractors.
"I have the thickest skin of ANY elected official in the Cowichan Valley," he said in a post.
"So keep coming after me, keep trying to insult me, keep disparaging me in public. It won’t stop me. It just makes me laugh."
Listen to North Cowichan council's 2022 discussion on chemtrails at the 2:20:00 mark: https://pub-northcowichan.escribemeetings.com/Players/ISIStandAlonePlayer.aspx?Id=e6cd6f42-0315-487e-83ec-9d5133cd6587
In the U.S., Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in the Trump administration, has lent support to the notion of chemtrails. (https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2025/what-is-darpa-strontium-chemtrails-rfk-kennedy/ )
Kennedy also wrote the foreword to the book, Dispatches From the Vaccine Wars: Fighting for Human Freedom During the Great Reset, by Chris Shaw.
Shaw ran in North Cowichan in the 2022 election, as part of the United Independents, along with Adrienne Richards and Joe Enslow. All were defeated.
Shaw has announced plans to run again, in the October 17 municipal election, this time for Cowichan Bay director on the CVRD board.
(Chris Shaw, 2022)
Shaw's book was published by Skyhorse Publishing, which has also published 'Deception, the Great Covid Cover-up' by Rand Paul, and 'Forbidden Facts: Government Deceit and Suppression About Brain Damage from Childhood Vaccines' by Gavin de Becker.
Skyhorse also published Kennedy's book, 'The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.'
Further reading: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/w-5/page-1.html , https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/94consol18/94consol18/79431 , https://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/text-texte.aspx?id=103819
More on cloud seeding: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/cloud-seeding-faq-1.7176435
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(Sixmountains.ca received a Canadian Association of Journalists gold award in June for an investigative series on an unauthorized landfill on Cowichan Tribes reserve land.)