Federal government refers Port of Vancouver strategy to Major Projects Office

Federal government refers Port of Vancouver strategy to Major Projects Office

Roberts Bank Terminal 2 considered potential 'project of national interest'

Federal Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon has announced the Port of Vancouver Gateway Strategy is being referred to the Major Projects Office.

MacKinnon said Thursday that the strategy supports Canada's goal of doubling exports to non-U.S. markets by 2035.

The strategy's first key pillar is around Roberts Bank Terminal 2 in Delta, B.C., which will be referred to the Major Projects Office for "potential listing as a project of national interest," according to a federal government news release.

The second pillar of the Gateway Strategy includes launching a selection process for an operator for the 16-hectare Fraser Wharves terminal site in Richmond — which the federal government said is the first major terminal opportunity at the port in a decade — and reviewing Alberta's West Coast oil pipeline proposal located in the Delta area.

The Robert Bank Terminal 2 project, led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, is a proposed three-berth container terminal that is expected to "increase the Port's container capacity by 50 per cent enabling $100 billion of new container trade capacity annually."

MacKinnon said the Roberts Bank project is a "potential listing" subject to further consultations with First Nations partners.

"It's a time-defined process and ... that process starts today," he said.

The larger Gateway Strategy will mean more modern port facilities and expanded capacity for throughput for prairie producers and miners, MacKinnon said.

He added that "the best possible set of proposed mitigations" is in place when it comes to environmental protections.

Chief Laura Cassidy of Tsawwassen First Nation said the impacts of the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project, located in the nation's traditional and treaty territory, will be felt most directly by the nation.

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She said the project is "subject to hundreds of enforceable conditions designed to protect Tsawwassen interests."

"Our consent to the project was based on this detailed work. Those commitments cannot be weakened or set aside in the name of efficiency or expediency," Cassidy said.

The Major Projects Office and Transport Canada are also developing a rail infrastructure strategy as part of the Gateway Strategy.

Port president and CEO Peter Xotta said the relationship with Tsawwassen First Nation is "core" to how the port will move forward.

Xotta said Thursday's announcement is "game changing" and added the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project is ready to go.

"Land ... marine, bulk and rail infrastructure is all needed if we're going to step up as a country and rise to the occasion," he said.

Xotta said that while the Roberts Bank project has "been in the queue" for some time — noting that it is "much further along" than the pipeline project proposed by Alberta — now is the time to meet the economic moment.

The Port of Vancouver moves $1 billion in goods every day, according to the news release, and handles 40 per cent of Canada's trade in goods beyond North America.