Editor: Port of Vancouver’s Roberts Bank Terminal 2 is a disservice to Canadian interests

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In response to the Globe and Mail article "Port of Vancouver's cargo volume drops 11 per cent amid grain slump", GCT Global Container Terminals has highlighted how the Port of Vancouver's Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) is NOT the right choice for Canada.

Editor:

We note that the Port of Vancouver’s CEO is trying to position the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) project as providing necessary resiliency for Canada.  What is not clear is how: RBT2 remains connected to the exact same washed-out rail lines as the current terminals.  Had it been sitting there, fully realized, it would still have been sitting idle last year during the floods. 

He is also trying to position advancing the Port’s RBT2 project as “doing the right thing for Canada.” Again, it is not clear how. What is increasingly clear is the Port’s determination to push forward its own project, which will be funded by taxpayers, create unneeded capacity and cause significant environmental impacts (described by Environment and Climate Change Canada as "permanent, irreversible, and, continuous"). This despite the existence of an incremental, environmentally conscious, private-sector funded alternative — GCT’s Deltaport Berth 4 (DP4).

The Port CEO says the Port is very focused on finding a new private sector operator, yet they have been unsuccessful in multiple efforts in this regard over the last decade due to ballooning costs creating the most expensive container capacity ever built at $3.5+ billion. He speaks of the importance of competitiveness, but the Port is blocking competition and squeezing out sorely needed private investment.

The Port’s own information shows RBT2 cannot be completed until 2033 at the earliest. Other private-sector projects coming online in the Vancouver and Prince Rupert Gateways and GCT’s DP4 project are better positioned to meet future capacity needs incrementally and responsibly, compared to building a new artificial island, megaproject which requires nearly 10 years of construction.

The ongoing effort by the Port Authority to block a better private-sector alternative under the guise of pursuing resiliency and competition is the real disservice to Canadian interests.

- Marko Dekovic, Vice President Public Affairs, GCT Global Container Terminals

And here are more letters and opinions by concerned Canadians opposing the Port of Vancouver’s RBT2:


It is time to consider the facts, the data, the science, and the economy. It is time to #RejectRBT2 and choose to build a #BetterDeltaport.


Email your Member of Parliament to help stop the Port of Vancouver’s harmful expansion project.


Learn more on our home page: betterdeltaport.ca

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