entered into a memorandum of understanding<\/a> to explore partnership to advance RBT2 with the goal of achieving a joint operating and development agreement. As part of that agreement, signed in April, GCT withdrew its application to the MPO for its competing Deltaport Berth 4 expansion project.<\/p>\nOperations at Roberts Bank Terminal 2 are expected to begin in the mid-2030s.<\/p>\n
Following Thursday morning\u2019s announcement, Tsawwassen First Nation issued a statement, partially attributed to Chief Laura Cassidy, noting TFN consented to RBT2 under strict, legally binding conditions, adding \u201cthat consent does not constitute support for the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassidy said projects designated as being in the national interest must not come at the expense of treaty rights or existing environmental protections.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the benefits of projects like RBT2 may be shared nationally, the impacts are borne most directly by Tsawwassen First Nation in our territory and on the exercise of our treaty-protected harvesting rights. We expect meaningful consultation, respect for our treaty rights, and full implementation of the commitments that have already been made to our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
TFN\u2019s statement said it has worked on this project for decades to ensure the nation\u2019s treaty rights, environment and harvesting activities are protected through environmental assessment, regulatory review and negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile RBT2 may provide national economic and trade benefits, its impacts will be felt most directly by Tsawwassen First Nation. Roberts Bank is immediately adjacent to Tsawwassen First Nation\u2019s community area and within the Tsawwassen Fishing Area. The environmental, cultural and harvesting impacts of the project fall disproportionately on Tsawwassen people, including impacts to our constitutionally-protected treaty rights to harvest within our territory. TFN expects Canada to fully uphold all existing approvals, conditions and consultation obligations associated with the project.\u201d<\/p>\n
TFN said it will carefully review the implications of Thursday\u2019s announcement and participate in consultation to ensure the nation\u2019s rights, interests and economic development priorities are fully considered.<\/p>\n
In order to double non-U.S. trade by 2035, the federal press release states, the port needs new land and must build modern terminals and other export-focused infrastructure to support bulk exports like grain, potash, petroleum products and canola oil \u2014 dry and liquid bulk account for approximately 70 per cent of the total tonnage moving through the Port of Vancouver\u2019s 29 marine terminals.<\/p>\n
On July 20, the port authority will launch a process to select an operator for its 40-acre Fraser Wharves terminal site in Richmond \u2013 the first major terminal opportunity at the Port of Vancouver in a decade.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s announcement notes the MPO may support the port authority \u201cto ensure the project is efficiently advanced while respecting Indigenous rights and safeguarding the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the Gateway Strategy, the MPO and the port authority will co-operate to identify similar opportunities for export terminal expansion.<\/p>\n
As the majority of cargo moving through the port is transported by rail, the strategy calls for investment in that system, including targeted expansion of the port\u2019s rail infrastructure to avoid the transportation network becoming congested, increasing shipping costs and reducing the competitiveness of Canadian businesses.<\/p>\n
In partnership with the railways, the MPO and Transport Canada are developing a rail infrastructure strategy to increase capacity and enhance supply chain efficiency, reliability and resilience.<\/p>\n
Under the environmental protections pillar, the strategy highlights three federal initiatives to support coastal protection and address key threats to at-risk whales.<\/p>\n
As part of its spring economic update, the government committed more than $258 million over five years to renew and enhance funding for the protection of whales and their habitats.<\/p>\n
This includes $95 million over the next five years and $16.5 million on an annual basis to protect southern resident killer whales and their habitat along B.C.\u2019s coast through dedicated protection measures delivered by Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada \u2014 including additional measures to reduce underwater noise, vessel management measures, monitoring, and long-term habitat protection.<\/p>\n
This funding complements the federal government\u2019s announcement in April of $412.9 million over five years to renew the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, enabling continued protection and recovery of wild Pacific salmon stocks.<\/p>\n
As well, through the Oceans Protection Plan launched in 2016,, the government has invested $3.5 billion and partnered with Indigenous and coastal communities to \u201cdevelop a world-leading marine safety system that meets the unique needs of Canada and B.C.,\u201d the release states.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government is looking to streamline expansion of Delta\u2019s container port as part of an overall strategy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194299],"tags":[49,48,87674],"class_list":["post-814550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-surrey","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-surrey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}