Wandering Tattler Apr 07 - Nature Vancouver

consultation with and participation bys Delta and LowerMainland residents and voters in what should be, but is not,a democratic process.And now I am back to your stated mandate: to look into theinstitutional and physical obstacles to the competitivenessof Canada’s intermodal transportation system.The Lower Mainland itself poses a major physical obstacle.This is a small area bounded by mountains and the Strait ofGeorgia. It contains over four million people and millions ofsignificant birds and other species. It also contains themost arable land in all of British Columbia, land that isabsolutely necessary to feed the people of BritishColumbia, and beyond that, the people of Canada.The Gateway Project’s plan for its intermodaltransportation system in the Lower Mainland will removethousands of acres of food-producing agricultural land tomake way for roads and railway tracks for the trucks andtrains to transport containers to and from the Port.Hundreds of acres will also be removed through theTsawwassen Treaty to provide room for container storagefor the Port. And this is not fallow land. This is land that isactively farmed. We cannot afford to lose another acre ofour food-producing lands – or our scarce industrial lands -to 8 or 10 storey high piles of empty containers, whichmust be stored here because of that unsustainable balanceof trade I referred to earlier: 100 containers in – only 20containers out.Delta has recently passed a bylaw regulating the storage ofcontainers in our municipality. We have done so to preserveas much of our land as possible for productive industry andagriculture. And to locate the storage facilities where theywill be least disruptive to other traffic, and wherecontainer traffic movements can be made safely.The Corporation of Delta has, for many years now, triedto work with the Port to achieve their ends whileprotecting the quality of life for our people. But it hasn’tworked.The people are not happy in Delta. They are not happy inthe other communities that are experiencing or will beexperiencing the impacts of this economic endeavour.And there has been no attempt to provide meaningfulmitigation for those impacts.The Senate of Canada, of which you are members, is thesenior level of government, positioned to provide a checkand balance against the more politically-driven House ofCommons and to protect and enforce the principles ofdemocracy in Canada.As the Gateway Project has unfolded, leaf by leaf, withno consultation, the people of Delta and of the GreaterVancouver Regional District have come to question thereality of democracy in this country. You are its finalbastion. I and they look to you for the conformation thatit still exists.If you have any questions, I would be pleased to answerthem. Also, Ian Radnidge, our Director of Engineering, ishere. He keeps more numbers in his head than I do inmine.Thank you for listening. I would be pleased to provide youwith a tour of Delta so that you can see for yourselfwhat is happening.Lois E. JacksonMayor, Corporation of DeltaChair, Greater Vancouver Regional DistrictIt might be considered by some that the people of Delta,the people of the Lower Mainland, the birds, fish and otherspecies, the agricultural lands, the zoning powers ofmunicipalities - it might be considered by some that all ofthese are obstacles to the competitiveness of Canada’sintermodal transportation system.In my view, the biggest obstacle is the consortium of theGateway organization, Vancouver Port, the Province ofBritish Columbia and the Government of Canada, of whichyou are a part.In pursuit of economic competitiveness, this consortium hasignored the people.We are all in favour of a strong economy, one whichprovides jobs and profits and a high quality of life. We canhave that. But not when the people, the fish, birds andwildlife, the agricultural lands and the legitimate zoningpowers of municipal government are considered obstaclesto be ignored or eliminated.The Wandering Tattler March 2007 page 8