By Rochelle Baker  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter The blueprint for a vast network of marine protected areas across the northern third of Canada’s West Coast is being unveiled after more than a decade of work. A group of 17 coastal First Nations and the Canadian and B.C. governments have crafted a draft action plan for the BC Northern Shelf MPA Network, covering 100,000-square-kilometres of ocean, and released it for public input Thursday. It’s a significant milestone in a complex process to protect and link biodiversity hot spots in the waters from Quadra Island in the south to the border with Alaska in the north, said Josie Osborne, B.C.’s land, water and resource stewardship minister. “It’s such a huge achievement,” Osborne told Canada’s National Observer Friday. “Everybody is really proud of the

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