A better solution for Canada’s West Coast container capacity
January 05 2022
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Worried about the supply chains? Us too. But West Coast marine container terminal capacity is not part of that problem. Fact is, Canada has plenty of container terminal capacity which has been delivering.
The Port of Vancouver knows this. But in an effort to advance Roberts Bank Terminal 2, its $3.5 billion (!!) taxpayer-backed mega-project that will place a massive artificial island in the ecologically sensitive Salish Sea, the Port of Vancouver is suggesting that a lack of container terminal capacity is causing delays in getting goods to market.
The Port’s gamesmanship damages our Gateway’s well-earned reputation. Unlike those US ports in the headlines, our Gateway has done an exceptional job of handling pandemic-driven surge volumes, thanks to incremental, smart, market-driven investments made over the years and the hard work of the essential supply chain workers.
Canada’s West Coast will eventually need additional marine container terminal capacity. There’s an excellent private sector answer to that: GCT Global Container Terminals, the operator at Deltaport, is proposing an incremental, smart, market-driven expansion that would add up to 2 million TEUs of West Coast marine container terminal capacity as it is needed with the privately-funded, environmentally conscious Deltaport Berth 4 (DP4) project.
So why would the Port of Vancouver be putting forward a massive, publicly funded, environmentally devastating* project instead?
[*This is not hyperbole: Environment and Climate Change Canada has concluded that the damage from building the Port’s Roberts Bank Terminal 2, a massive, artificial island in the ecologically sensitive Salish Sea, will be “permanent, irreversible and continuous.” See this next video.]
The Port should be stepping back and allowing the private-sector to handle this private-sector matter. Instead, they are jumping in to compete with their tenant and spending public money advancing their own flawed $3.5 billion (and growing!) project – the most expensive container capacity ever built.
We believe that GCT’s Deltaport Berth 4 expansion plan is a better solution. It has a smaller footprint and a smart, incremental approach. And, it’s privately funded, leaving public money available for urgent public priorities like upgrading Canada’s Pacific Gateway with projects that make it (and the supply chain) more resilient and sustainable in the face of climate change. Imagine all the road, rail, public transit and other infrastructure improvements that could be made with $3.5 billion…
But we need a fair process.
It’s time for the Port of Vancouver to stop pressing forward its own flawed project, consider the public interest (of B.C. and Canada), and stop obstructing the better alternative being put forward by GCT.
Yes, Canada may need more container terminal capacity sometime in the future, but that will be well into the 2030s at the earliest. So there’s time to make the right decision for the economy, the environment, and Canadian taxpayers.
It is time to #RejectRBT2 and #BuildBackBetter with GCT’s Deltaport Berth 4.
Email your Member of Parliament to help stop the Port of Vancouver’s harmful expansion project.
