B.C. conservationists, labour unions, First Nations unite in opposition to marine terminal expansion
CBC News | Posted: June 14, 2023 8:36 PM | Last Updated: June 14, 2023
Multiple groups hold news conference to denounce expansion, citing environmental degradation, job losses
Opponents of an expansion to a marine container port on B.C.'s South Coast held a news conference in Vancouver Wednesday to reiterate their concerns about the impact on the environment and local jobs if the project, recently approved by the federal government, goes ahead.
"There's times when we do need to say, 'No. We do need to say 'no,'" said Rueben George, a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, as he pointed to his nation's territorial waters behind him from Vancouver's CRAB Park with the Port of Vancouver in the background.
The group of those publicly opposing the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) in Delta, B.C., about 35 kilometres south of Vancouver, is growing and now includes two unions, the International Longshore & Warehouse Union of Canada and the B.C. General Employees' Union, along with a dozen conservation organizations.
They have banded together to try to persuade the B.C. government to deny final approval for the expansion, which would create a three-berth marine container terminal and increase shipping capacity in the region by up to 60 per cent.
Environmental groups are worried salmon migrating out and feeding within the Fraser River estuary will be put in danger, along with the killer whales that feed on those fish.
"The transition to a just, equitable and sustainable economy that allows future generations to survive in tandem with nature must start now. And it starts with cancelling Roberts Bank Terminal 2," said Charlotte Dawe with the Wilderness Committee.
The unions say the new terminal will be highly automated and result in job losses.
"When one terminal goes automated, the rest follow suit," said Rob Ashton, the president of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union, at Wednesday's conference.
Ashton said up to 4,000 jobs could wind up being lost if his union's worst fears are realized. He said partnering with conservation groups to fight against the expansion was needed, calling RBT2 a "monolithic giant."
"This terminal will not only destroy jobs in British Columbia and the jobs of my members, but it will destroy the environment as well."
WATCH | Rueben George talks about the impact of increased shipping on his members:
In approving RBT2 in April, federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said the expanded terminal would open up Canada's marine supply chain and promised environmental concerns would be addressed.
The project will see the existing marine container port capacity at Roberts Bank expanded. The terminals are built on an artificial peninsula jutting out from the mainland.
RBT2 will see the artificial peninsula's footprint expanded to hold the planned three-berth terminal, which will eventually increase capacity by 2.4 million 20-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, meaning the port would be able to handle about 2.4 million extra 20-foot shipping containers annually.
Wilkinson said in April that more than $275 billion of trade passes through the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority every year, and the expansion is needed to meet forecasted demand.
The port says it will cover the estimated $2-billion tab for construction through private investment and long-term leases of port facilities and operator fees.
Expansion sets 370 conditions
The project has been in the works for over a decade and will launch with 370 legally binding conditions, including protection for fish habitat and creating routes to allow aquatic wildlife to navigate the environment.
Requirements also include noise monitoring and no net new noise that would affect killer whales. The Western sandpiper, a shorebird, must also be protected.
In April, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the project will support up to 1,500 direct jobs at the terminal and 15,000 off-terminal jobs, including trucking and warehousing positions.
Alghabra said then that all container terminals use automation, and the expanded Roberts Bank will be "semi-automated," which will help create jobs and improve productivity.
Delta Mayor George Harvie has also spoken about the project citing concerns over ecological damage, traffic impacts, including the replacement for the Massey Tunnel. and the need for respect for Indigenous rights and better policing to combat smuggling at the port.
On June 8, a public comment period held by the province for people to provide feedback on the project to B.C.'s Environmental Assessment Office ended. The office will now prepare a report for provincial ministers. The province has not said how long that will take.
Peter Hall, who studies economic development and transportation geography at Simon Fraser Unversity's Urban Studies Program, told CBC News the decision for the province pits a group of traditional NDP allies against another coalition which includes the federal government, industry and financial interests.
'It's just such a fascinating example ... these projects really are contests between competing coalitions," he said. "And what happens at the end of the day is going to be the outcome of that contest more than narrowly scientific or environmental or even economic considerations."
The Port of Vancouver said the terminal could take six years to build.