Against Port Expansion in the Fraser Estuary BC

Dear Against Port Expansion Community Group Supporters and Members of the Public:
October 13, 2023

Governments Have Betrayed The Environmental Values of the Fraser Estuary

As Executive Director of Against Port Expansion Community Group I write to you, APE Supporters and Members of the Public, after reflecting on the BC Government's  approval of Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2), which effectively ends attempts to stop RBT2 within the federal and provincial legislative framework established to carry out environmental assessments and make decisions. This environmentally disastrous, unnecessary and uneconomic project can still be stopped. Read the letter to find out what you can do to stop the Fraser Estuary from breaching its environmental tipping point.

Read the full letter here:

Governments_Have_Betrayed_The_Environmental_Values_of_the_Fraser_Estuary_APE_Website.pdf

The Trudeau federal cabinet (acting as governor in council) approved the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project in April 2023 as “justified in the circumstances” despite the mounds of evidence that this project will be an environmental catastrophe. 

How can the Trudeau government be trusted when it continues to ignore science, national and international environmental and other groups? Here is what the government’s own scientists told the federal cabinet:

“Environment and Climate Change Canada characterizes the Project's residual adverse impacts on biofilm due to predicted changes in salinity as potentially high in magnitude, permanent, irreversible, and, continuous. ECCC's confidence in the EIS's predictions is characterized as low (IBID). In particular, impacts to biofilm could potentially implicate the long-term viability of Western Sandpipers as a species (IBID). ECCC similarly characterizes impacts to Western Sandpipers as potentially high in magnitude, permanent, irreversible, and continuous”.

(see https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/documents/p80054/121632E.pdf). 

Science, facts and evidence led the following groups and entities to all oppose Roberts Bank Terminal 2.

BC NATURE

https://bcnature.org/roberts-bank-3/

GEORGIA STRAIT ALLIANCE

https://georgiastrait.org/press/roberts-bank-terminal-2-opposition-demands-answers-from-governments-on-expansion/ 

RAINCOAST CONSERVATION

https://www.raincoast.org/2023/07/science-protecting-biodiversity-fraser-river-estuary/

https://www.raincoast.org/2023/05/legal-challenge-federal-government-terminal-2/ 

BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL

https://www.birdlife.org/news/2020/12/16/waterfowl-winter-refuge-fraser-river-delta-risks-being-lost-forever/

https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/boundary-bay--roberts-bank--sturgeon-bank-(fraser-river-estuary)-iba-canada

BIRDS CANADA

https://www.birdscanada.org/federal-government-fails-to-protect-birds-and-biodiversity-with-rbt2

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=649261319449556 

WILDERNESS COMMITTEE

https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/news/conservation-groups-are-back-court-protect-southern-resident-killer-whales-devastating-impacts

NATURE CANADA

https://naturecanada.ca/news/press-releases/roberts-bank-terminal-2-opposition-demands-answers-from-governments-on-expansion/?

ILWU

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/longshore-union-sides-with-environmental-groups-opposed-to-delta-terminal-expansion-1.6441720

LUMMI FIRST NATION

https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2023/jun/07/lummi-nation-canada-failed-to-fulfill-duties-in-bc-terminal-project/

FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS

https://sanjuans.org/?s=Roberts+Bank+Terminal+2

UNION OF BC INDIAN CHIEFS

https://www.ubcic.bc.ca/ol_roberts_bank_terminal_2_development_approva

AGAINST PORT EXPANSION IN BC

https://www.againstportexpansion.org/news/#RBT2%20-%20both%20an%20economical%20and%20environmental%20disaster 

LETTER FROM 12 SCIENTISTS 

https://fraserestuary.scienceletter.ca/press/

https://fraserestuary.scienceletter.ca/resources/

https://fraserestuary.scienceletter.ca/letter/

The scientists said it best:

“If the recovery of Canada’s endangered and iconic wildlife is a priority for the government of Canada, as stated, then it must reject the proposed Terminal 2 project”. 

So why did the Trudeau cabinet ignore all this evidence and every major environmental group when it approved RBT2?

Ask the politicans.

Write to:

Prime Minister Trudeau pm@pm.gc.ca
Environment Minister Guilbeault - ec.ministre-minister.ec@canada.ca
Trade Minister Ng - Mary.Ng@international.gc.ca
Global Affairs Minister Joly melanie.joly@international.gc.ca
Fisheries Minister Diane Lebouthillier DFO.Minister-Ministre.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca

Sandpipers' Last Supper is a documentary now in production. It tells the story of the Western Sandpiper’s (WESA) long distance migration and the biofilm in the mud on Roberts Bank that is critical to the WESA survival.

Read about the film here, those involved and how you can help.
https://sandpiperbiofilm.com/

"Justified in the Circumstances" is how Trudeau's federal cabinet gave its approval for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) project, ignoring its own government scientists who have proven, along with independent scientists, expert in wetlands and wetlands ecology, that the significant adverse environmental effects will be catastrophic They documented their findings in peer-reviewed science journals, characterizing the RBT2 negative impacts as immediate, permanent, continuous, irreversible and unable to be mitigated. 

It is in nobody's interest that RBT2 gets built at a cost likely to exceed $6 billion and making it the most expensive terminal development anywhere in the world. Well almost nobody:

• Certainly not the shorebirds, salmon, other fishes, Orcas, and other wildlife that rely on the Roberts Bank mud for their very survival.
• Not Canada's trade that has better cheaper alternatives to get goods to market.
• Not the longshoremen that stand to lose jobs.
• Not those living close by that will experience even more noise, air and light pollution.
• Not residents and tourists using area highways that will experience even more traffic congestion from ever increasing port semi trailer trucks moving containers in and out.

But there are some who will benefit, including those:

• Who financed and built warehouses on the now paved over rich farmland adjacent to Roberts Bank

• Who will bid to develop the huge new main made island, its cranes and lighting infrastructure, expanded roadways and rail and later operate it, some of which are likely to bid include Chinese government-owned entities.

The most important thing you can continue to do is to raise awareness of the federal government's ridiculous approval of the Roberts Bank Container Terminal 2 (RBT2) project.

Tell your friends, neighbours, work colleagues. Get them to write the federal government and insist that the RBT2 project be scrapped. Write to:

         Prime Minister Trudeau pm@pm.gc.ca
         Environment Minister Guilbeault  ec.ministre-minister.ec@canada.ca
         Trade Minister Ng Mary.Ng@international.gc.ca
         Global Affairs minister melanie.joly@international.gc.ca

Here are some pointers for your email:

Dear Prime Minister and Ministers:

In April 2023 you approved the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) project as "justified in the circumstances", even though you acknowledged that the project will result in significant adverse environmental effects.

Can you please explain your justification for the RBT2 project when:

1. It has been proven there is no need for additional container terminal expansion in Vancouver, where there is in excess of 2 million containers (TEUs) spare capacity today.
2. Federal government expert advisors have stated – do not add any more container terminal capacity in Vancouver until Prince Rupert’s container terminal growth has been maximized.
3. Prince Rupert, two sailing days closer to Asia, with a year round ice free port, easy uncongested entrance into the port (unlike Vancouver), and superior access to Eastern Canada and US markets, has expansion ready to go when the market warrants it by providing up to 5 million in additional container terminal capacity at less than half the cost of RBT2 and few environmental concerns.
4. By the time construction starts and RBT2 is completed its cost will have ballooned to over $6 billion, making it the most expensive container terminal development anywhere in the world.
5. Marine access to Vancouver ports via Juan de Fuca and Georgia Strait is already congested and will get worse with additional vessel transits for the Trans mountain Pipeline as well as two LNG terminals.
6. Vancouver port vessel transits pass right through feeding grounds and critical habitat for the already endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) that will result in more vessel noise, more vessel strikes and lead to further deaths of the SRKW already supposedly protected under the Species at Risk Act.
7. With the majority of VFPA container shipments destined for or originating in Eastern Canada and the US the already congested rail and highway routes through the Fraser Canyon and the Rocky mountains simply cannot handle more containerized traffic.
8. Your government scientists provided you with internationally validated scientific proof that RBT2 will result in negative impacts that will be immediate, permanent, continuous, irreversible and unable to be mitigated. 
9. That science predicted RBT2 would destroy the biofilm that supports hundreds of thousands of shorebirds who will lose access to the vital nutrients in the unique biofilm of Roberts Bank and as part of the intertidal food web will have disastrous effects all the way up the food chain.
10. Those same scientists provided you proof that the VFPA plans to mitigate negative biofilm impacts by re-creating biofilm is not feasible and cannot be done on the scale necessary to replace that which will be lost. Yet you then made that as one of your mitigation conditions.

All of this negates any "justified in the circumstances",

I call on you Prime Minister and your cabinet to recognize RBT2 is neither environmentally nor economically justified and I demand you withdraw your approval for the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project.

And please send copies of your emails to APE at saynotot2@gmail.com.

The Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project is not only an environmental disaster. Economically it spells trouble for Canada as well. 

Justified in the circumstances (the federal cabinet’s rational for approving it) despite significant adverse environmental effects that cannot be mitigated is only part of the disaster. 

The project, if it is ever built, is going to cost in the region of $6 billion, making it the most expensive greenfield container terminal project (on a per container basis) worldwide. But the long term impacts on Canada's economy are the real issue.

RBT2 is the engine that will deliver more Chinese imports into Canada. That means lower productivity for Canadian businesses, fewer manufacturing jobs and great reliance on a vast range of goods that could and should be manufactured in Canada. In turn that means less skilled job opportunities for Canadians. 

Why are we facilitating increased trade with China when it:

• Interferes in our elections
• Spy’s on our governments
• Steals trade secrets and patents
• Supports Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine by buying embargoed Russian oil and supplying them with goods and material used in their war effort
• Harasses and threatens MPs, as well as Canadians and immigrants of Chinese origin
• Applies anti competitive subsidies that then undercut Canadian manufactured products
• Imposes unilateral tariffs, sanctions and embargoes on Canadian exports for no other reason than retaliation. 
• Trespasses on other countries exclusive economic zones and ignores the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. 
• Wilfully violates WTO trade rules.

Look at the percentage of Chinese imports through the port of Vancouver. China is the ports’ top importer of containerized cargo with 2.5 times more tonnes imported than all other countries combined and representing 2/3 of all imports. 

 Containerized exports to China are 1/3 of what is imported. 

 Why did the Canadian government approve the construction of a new container terminal that will:

• Eliminate more Canadian manufacturing jobs?
• Put more Canadian manufacturers out of business?
• Compete unfairly?
• Help China to give more support for Russia’s war against Ukraine when Canada is spending millions in support of Ukraine?

RBT2 makes no environmental nor economic sense. 

The federal and BC governments must withdraw their project approval, thereby promoting more investment in Canada and Canadian manufacturing and creating more skilled jobs for Canadians.
Tell:
 - Prime Minister Trudeau pm@pm.gc.ca,
 - Enviroment Minister Guilbeault, ec.ministre-minister.ec@canada.ca
 - and MP For Delta, Minister Carla Qualtrough carla.qualtrough@parl.gc.ca

that you want cabinet to revisit its approval for RBT2, based on negative economic impacts for Canada and environmental damage to one of Canada's most important biodiversity areas.

Ecojustice, representing Georgia Strait Alliance, David Suzuki Foundation, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, and Western Canada Wilderness Committee, is in federal court trying to stop the inevitable wildlife destruction were the Roberts Bank Terminal 2 project in Delta BC to ever be built. 

https://www.wildernesscommittee.org/news/conservation-groups-are-back-court-protect-southern-resident-killer-whales-devastating-impacts

In particular this project negatively impacts a critical food source for millions of migratory and other shorebirds, puts wild salmon stocks at further risk and as well may push the already endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales towards extinction.

The Trudeau government's environmental hypocrisy was on full display in the federal court on Tuesday June 25 2024, when according to media reports Attorney General of Canada and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change lawyer Jon Khan told a Vancouver Federal Court that legal arguments raised by four environmental groups ignore the enforcement of 370 mandatory conditions that came with the port expansion’s approval.

Khan told Federal Justice Christine Pallotta that the federal government’s decision was a “discretionary one based on the widest considerations of policy and public interest.”

That public interest includes wider economic benefits — like improving supply chain resilience and boosting international trade — and should lead the court to agree the port expansion approval was “justified in the circumstances,” he said.

“Only the governor-in-council, not this court, is equipped to evaluate such considerations,” Khan told the court.

The government’s hypocrisy comes into play when their lawyer mentions the 370 mandatory conditions that came with the port expansion’s approval.

The problem with these conditions is not only that very few of them have any teeth, but in addition the measures frequently call for minimizing, mitigating or reducing potential effects. In other instances federal government scientists have already proven the measures proposed will not work. Here are a few examples of the ineffectual application of these conditions:

        #5. Light mitigation. The current terminal's lighting already causes problems for surrounding residential areas and as well to wildlife. Complaints are always rebuffed with the explanation that workplace rules require certain levels of lighting. RBT2 adds even more lighting and light pollution will only get worse.

         #7 Offsetting plan(s) related to the alteration, destruction or disturbance of fish habitat, and death of fish. What if the offsetting and further mitigation doesn’t work and the already declining salmon stocks are in even more trouble?

         #8 Economically feasible technologies for reducing underwater noise. What if these don’t work or are not economically feasible? Furthermore these conditions fail to take into consideration the additional vessel traffic from other projects such as the Tilbury LNG terminal and the Trans Mountain pipeline. Underwater noise and its detrimental effects on the Orcas will only get worse.

         #9 No net loss of wetlands. Compensation for wetland loss has not worked up to now and there is no reason to indicate this project will be different.

         #10 Protecting migratory birds and avoid harming, killing or disturbing them. One of its key provisions is to create habitat to compensate for what will be lost. Environment Canada scientists have proven and demonstrated that it is not feasible to create habitat on the scale necessary to replace what will be lost.

What the federal government’s lawyer also failed to mention is that the West Coast supply chain has plenty of spare capacity today, with alternatives for container terminal expansion elsewhere in BC when Canadian trade conditions need it - Prince Rupert for example – where, unlike Roberts Bank, there are few if any environmental issues.

Prince Rupert’s container terminal, two sailing days closer to Asia, has been steadily expanding and is ready to add as much as another 5 million in container terminal capacity when the market needs it. Therefore there is simply no justification to add more container terminal capacity in Vancouver, endangering critically important environmental ecosystems. 

The Governor in Council mentioned by the lawyer is Trudeau's federal cabinet. That Trudeau cabinet ignored its own scientists who told them  “Project-induced changes to Roberts Bank constitute an unmitigable species-level risk to western sandpipers, and shorebirds more generally,”

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/02/01/news/feds-quashed-damning-scientific-conclusions-about-port-expansion-birds

These government scientists along with other independent scientists expert in wetlands and wetlands ecology have told the Trudeau government repeatedly that building Roberts Bank Terminal 2 will result in significant adverse environmental effects that will be immediate, continuous, permanent, irreversible and cannot be mitigated. 

Despite this the Trudeau cabinet approved the project as "justified in the circumstances".

This project has been panned by the international media, the latest being two articles in the Seattle Times:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/extinction-risk-to-southern-resident-orcas-accelerating-as-researchers-raise-alarm/ 

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/can-a-tiny-shorebird-stop-the-massive-expansion-of-a-container-port/ 

The UK Guardian Newspaper and the New York Times have also published articles critical of the port expansion.

Not only that but even Canada’s environment commissioner has harshly criticized the federal government’s efforts to help species at risk as “slow and lacking”. Commissioner Jerry DeMarco said poor implementation and application of laws meant to protect species at risk left the job of defending vulnerable species to advocacy groups. 

Canada is yet again in an international embarrassing situation resulting from the Trudeau government’s appalling record in failing to protect endangered environmental ecosystems.