There has
been a lot of pressure on Vancouver and British Columbia to allow the
industrialization of the Fraser River. The Port of Vancouver (POV) under the
guidance of Robin Silvester has established itself as the driver for the
Pacific Gateway Plan. Many people, groups and professionals have spoken out
against much of this development. For years preferable alternatives have been studied,
discussed and proposed. Most of this has fallen on deaf ears as the environment
appears to have taken a back seat to the economy.
At the AGM
for the Port “Sustainability” as defined by Robin Silvester takes the following
order: 1-The Economy, 2-The Environment and 3-Community. This would suggest
that jobs are more important than the environment. If we severely compromise or
destroy the planet with climate change (through industry/jobs) there will be no
jobs. In order to have sustainability the Environment must be considered before
the Economy. That is not to belittle the importance of the Economy. By all
means, we need to survive. However, Prime Minister Trudeau was elected with the
understanding that he recognizes the importance of the environment in the
balance of sustainability.
The
industrialization of the Fraser is the starting point of further degrading our
fish supply and food chain. It stays the course of known industrial development
(as opposed to “new” or “alternative” development) at the cost of the
environment. It is not known or studied how further dredging of the Fraser will
damage fish stock. It is not known how much damage will be done by the increase
in the salt wedge due to the deeper channel. This will affect both fish stock
and farm irrigation practices.
The Fraser
River is the primary and possibly the largest source of Chinook Salmon. This
species has already seriously been affected by many factors, most man-made. As
a result of the dwindling salmon stock (and other factors, also man-made) the
“Southern Resident Killer Whales” residing in our coastal waters are at peril.
Salmon, primarily the Chinook from the Fraser makes up 97% of the Orca diet for
the three resident pods. The pod numbers have decreased to about 80 and they
are presently the only killer whale listed as endangered by the American Fish
and Wildlife. The Canadian equivalent, COSEWIC, has also listed these pods as
endangered.
These issues
about the Salmon, Fraser and farming are just a few of the many detrimental
affects the proposed Port developments have. There are issues over jet fuel,
LNG gas handling and shipping, and urban sprawl and industry taking over
valuable farm land. Not to mention the shipping of coal from the USA, which American
ports have wisely refused to handle. How is it that the many environmental
concerns over the Fraser expressed by the public have been waved off as
insignificant? Why is our new Federal Government being quiet on this subject?
The Port of
Vancouver is a Federal Crown Corporation and has a responsibility to be a good
corporate citizen. Instead it is a corporation that claims to be community
minded while showing little community concern. Claims of hundreds of hours of
collaborative community involvement and thousands of hours of scientific study
are regularly made. The fact that the city of Richmond, one of the most
affected communities, is against this project speaks volumes. Now that the
Board of Metro Vancouver has spoken up against the bridge will there be
recognition of the issues? It seems unlikely as the first to respond was a
collection of Chambers of Commerce in support of the Pacific Gateway Plan, thus
supporting the bridge. Sadly the Vancouver Sun opinion piece carried a number
of erroneous claims and failed to speak of the negative effects of the proposed
bridge.
Where is the
Board of the Port in all of this? It is the Board that should be driving the
Port and the communities that should be driving the Board. This issue was
recognized by our local MP during the election. So far no recognition of the
issue has been made and any change to the Board or Board structure is no more
than rumour.
Will this
bridge be built? Premier Clark has said that contracts will not be signed until
after the election. Ultimately we will have to see who wins the next Provincial
election. Should the Liberals be re-elected, the bridge would seem to be a done
deal.
