Good afternoon.

I want to thank the Chamber of Commerce for inviting me to be here today. It's always a pleasure to come to Delta, and visit with all of our business and community partners here.

It's hard to believe that it's been a year since my last presentation to the Delta Chamber of Commerce. And what a year it's been

From the incredible economic growth experienced right across B.C to the unprecedented investment in our province's transportation systemit has been one of the busiest and most exciting times in our history.

Over the next 20 minutes or so, I want to share with you some of the things we've accomplished over the past year -- as well as the challenges that lie before us.

More specifically, I want to talk about:

- the Port of Vancouver and its growth;
- the status of the Deltaport Third Berth Project; and
- the Port's commitment to this community and its economic, social and environmental well-being.

The Vancouver Port Authority has been extremely active in your community in the past year -- probably more so than at any other time in our history.

We've gotten to know the people and institutions in Delta, as well their issues and concerns. And we've worked hard to address your priorities -- not only in the context of the Deltaport Third Berth Project, but in our overall port operations.

That said, I know there's a great deal more we can do together to address the concerns and priorities of this community in the future. And we fully intend to do that.

I'd like to start this afternoon by sharing with you some of the results of our most recent Economic Impact Study. This is a study we undertake every few years to summarize the importance of the Port of Vancouver to the B.C. economy.

And what it shows, I think, is that port operations like those at Roberts Bank are among the most important economic contributors in our province -- and that importance is only growing.

According to our report, the total value of goods shipped through the Port of Vancouver last year was $43 billion -- that's up nearly 50% over four years ago.

Over the same timeframe, the number of direct jobs we support has grown 9% to 30,100. Salaries have grown 12% to $1.5 billion.

And our direct contribution to Canada's GDP grew 17% to an incredible $1.8 billion.

These are very significant benefits, and they accrue to workers and communities throughout B.C. -- particularly port communities like Delta.

In addition to the growing economic benefits associated with the Port of Vancouver, there has been a corresponding growth in public recognition for the importance of our ports.

In my view, we are experiencing a fundamental shift in how British Columbians view the role of ports and transportation industries in our province.

Business leaders, community leaders and everyday British Columbians today understand that ports do more than facilitate the success of B.C.s import and export industries, and the country's international trade.

They understand that we are economic engines in our own right -- creating employment, business opportunities and personal wealth throughout our operating communities.

And that is deeply gratifying as we take steps to build and expand our operations for the benefit of all British Columbians and all Canadians.

I should mention that the container truck strike we're seeing this week is evidence, I think, of just how important our port is to the Lower Mainland economy.

After just three days of stalled container movements through our port, there have been significant negative effects on our local economy.

Manufacturers are being hurt because they don't have access to the raw materials they need to build their products. B.C. exporters are being hurt because they can't get their products to market.

Workers in other areas of the transportation chain are being idled. And local consumers are increasingly being hurt by the lack of product availability in our stores.

Let's not kid ourselves -- after just three days, the economic and social consequences of this work stoppage are not yet dire. But they are significant and they're growing.

If there is a silver lining, it's that work stoppages like this make clear that the Port of Vancouver is not just an economic lifeline for our country -- but also for our province and our region. We simply cannot survive without our ports operating in a competitive and efficient way.

And I think the people of Delta should take a special pride in the contribution they make as a host community to the Port of Vancouver. I believe the significance of that economic contribution will only grow in the future.

Of course, the VPA is doing everything in its power to conclude the container truck strike as quickly and equitably as possible.

We have called for a facilitator to be appointed, and I'm encouraging all parties involved to negotiate in good faith to find a swift solution to the issue. I think the long-term consequences of an extended work stoppage for our port and our economy far outweigh the financial implications of any potential settlement.

Of course, the container truck strike comes at a time when the VPA is working to expand its container business at the Port of Vancouver.

There are five individual projects either underway or planned to expand our container terminal capacity over the next 10-12 years. These include:

- the Deltaport Third Berth Project;
- Terminal 2 at Roberts Bank;
- two projects to upgrade and enhance existing container terminals on the south shore of Burrard Inlet; and
- the possible conversion of an existing bulk terminal on the north shore of Burrard Inlet into a container facility.

Of course, the most visible one for this community is the Deltaport Third Berth Project -- a proposal to build a third-berth on the existing Deltaport container terminal at Roberts Bank.

In February, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office accepted our project application for the Deltaport project, triggering a public and government review of the proposal that continues to this day.

As you know, the VPA hosted a series of open houses and public meetings in Delta this spring. Our staff and technical consultants have met and spoken with thousands of Delta residents about the Deltaport Third Berth Project -- including many of you in the room today.

It has been a very robust public outreach and stakeholder consultation process. Along the way we have learned a great deal more about this community and its priorities.

Ultimately, our objective has been to design and build a project at Roberts Bank that avoids and minimizes negative effects on the community and the environment. Where effects cannot be avoided, we have sought to provide compensation and mitigation to offset them.

We are also seeking to design and build a project that addresses local issues and concerns in the community of Delta.

That is, to utilize our resources, our relationships and our influence to help solve this community's issues while we go about developing and our operating port.

I want to talk a little bit about how that approach manifests itself at the Deltaport Project today. I also intend to talk about our plans to become even more involved as a solutions provider in this community in the future.

Before I go on, however, there are three questions about the Deltaport Project that I'd like to answer. These are questions that we hear more than any other about our project.

The first relates to the Port of Prince Rupert.

Most of you are aware that Prince Rupert is building a container terminal. So, we're often asked "Why dont we send all the new containers to Prince Rupert and avoid expanding the Port of Vancouver altogether?"

The answer is it's not an either/or scenario. Over the past five years, container traffic on the west coast of North America has grown faster than anyone anticipated.

In fact, demand for B.C. port facilities has probably doubled from what we thought it would be four years ago.

So with the overall demand for port facilities growing, it's important to understand that Prince Rupert and Vancouver serve markets that are similar in some respects but different in others.

For example, Prince Rupert will serve primarily rail traffic to Eastern Canada and the US Midwest. Vancouver, on the other hand, serves Greater Vancouver as well as Eastern Canada, with a small amount of US Midwest business.

In fact, 40 per cent of Deltaport's business currently serves the Greater Vancouver market -- which cannot be served effectively from Prince Rupert.

This is precisely the cargo being detained by the container truck strike, and the reason why the Lower Mainland suffers disproportionately when cargo movements at the Port of Vancouver are disrupted.

So again it's not simply a question of one or the other. We need new container facilities in both ports as soon as possible to capture the future growth in container traffic.

We also need expanded container terminal capacity at the Port of Vancouver to serve the growing needs of the Greater Vancouver's regional economy.

The second question we're often asked is about Terminal 2 -- the second project proposed for Roberts Bank.

As I noted, the VPA has submitted its application to add a third-berth to the existing Deltaport Container Terminal. But we will also be proposing a second container facility called Terminal 2.

And so we are frequently asked: "Why don't you combine the two projects into a single development application so people can evaluate the true impact of container terminal expansion at Roberts Bank?"

The answer is they are two distinct projects with very different timelines.

For the Deltaport Third Berth project, we've defined the terminal, the road and rail components. In fact, we have a preliminary design for the whole project and we've completed all of our environmental studies.

Terminal 2, on the other hand, is still a concept. It will probably take another 18 months before we can fully define the marine, road and rail requirements. And until we have a project definition for Terminal 2, we can't start any of our environmental studies.

So it may be that one project application would be more efficient for all of us, but Terminal 2 isn't ready and we can't wait for it to catch up. The Port of Vancouver has customers that require more container terminal capacity right now.

Even as it is, it will take another three years to complete permitting and construction of the Deltaport project.

And as I noted earlier, there are actually five discreet container terminal development projects at the Port of Vancouver.

Our Container Development program is an integrated and phased strategy to ensure that the Port of Vancouver adds the capacity and efficiencies it needs to incrementally expand our business and serve our customers' growing needs.

Deltaport Third Berth and Terminal 2 -- or D3 and T2 as we call them -- are important facets of that phased and integrated strategy.

Each will be studied, designed, built and brought into operation in a strategic way -- to best serve the needs of our customers here in Canada and overseas. And you have my word that the people of this community will have a vital say in how both of those projects proceed.

The third question I often receive relates to the South Fraser Perimeter Road.

In fact, this is the question we most often hear in Delta. People want to know "Why are we proceeding with the Deltaport project when the South Fraser Perimeter Road project and alignment have not yet been finalized?"

The answer is we can do so because studies show the South Fraser Perimeter Road is not required for the Deltaport expansion.

However, a regional highway solution -- like the South Fraser Perimeter Road -- will be required before Terminal 2 can be built.

We've consistently said that Terminal 2 Project will not proceed before a permanent solution to the traffic congestion in this community is found. I want to reaffirm that commitment for you here today.

I'll come back to traffic issues in relation to Deltaport Third Berth Project in just a moment. But first I want to address the question of why these projects are happening at all.

Everyone here today understands the importance of business competitiveness and economic growth in a province like British Columbia.

And what's absolutely clear is that B.C.'s long-term economic prospects are tied very closely to Asia and the growth of Pacific Rim trade.

We have an opportunity through the Port of Vancouver and other gateway ports in B.C to participate in the tremendous expansion of China's economy, and the growing container trade between North America and Asia.

But we will only be able to capture the benefits of this growth if we expand our port capacity and related transportation infrastructure, and remain competitive with our rivals in the United States.

Four years ago, when the VPA started its Container Development program, we forecast that Vancouvers business could grow from 1 to 4 million TEUs.

Two years ago, we updated our forecast and found the opportunity had grown to 5 - 6 million TEUs for the Port of Vancouver and Fraserport. And when you consider Prince Rupert, total container volumes at B.C. ports could grow to 7 or even 8 million TEUs by 2020.

That's good news for B.C. workers and B.C. businesses. In combination with our bulk and cruise sectors, container expansion in B.C. will generate 45,000 new direct jobs, while contributing an additional $3.1 billion to Canada's GDP.

The $300 million Deltaport Project will create significant local economic benefits as well. These include:

- 640 person-years of employment during construction;
- 356 full-time jobs during operations; and
- an additional $2.2 million each year in property taxes.

Of course, a project like D3 is not without its issues. And Id like to take a few moments to address some of the issues that have created the greatest concern here in Delta -- starting with traffic.

We all recognize that expanding Deltaport will increase the number of containers moving to and from our terminal by truck and rail.

In preparation for this increase, we assessed all major roads used to get to and from Deltaport. And what we found is that Highway 17 is the one route that needed improvements to maintain a reasonable level of service.

As a result, we have proposed upgrades to Highway 17 valued at more than $3 million which will VPA will pay for.

The B.C. Ministry of Transportation has confirmed that these upgrades are more than sufficient to offset additional traffic from the project. In fact, our studies show these improvements will modestly improve travel times along the Hwy 17 corridor.

Our proposed improvements to Highway 17 are ready to go right now. We've asked the provincial Transportation Ministry to build them as soon as our project is approved, so that they benefit the people of this community a full two years before D3 comes on line.

We know that traffic is a major concern for this community, and we have found a solution that will allow our project to proceed while actually reducing overall travel times on Highway 17.

At the same time, we remain committed to helping find a permanent solution to traffic congestion in this community before Terminal 2 is built.

Of course, community concerns around traffic are not just restricted to highways and trucks. More than half of inland container traffic moves to and from Deltaport by rail.

Altogether, the number of train cars moving to and from Deltaport as a result of our project will increase by about 30%.

This increase will be mitigated by a number of initiatives. For example, Roberts Bank trains will travel on a 24-hour basis cutting down on the number of daytime trains disrupting peak traffic flows.

We are also working with the railways, local governments and other transportation authorities to address the issue of level crossings. The VPA has committed to be a funding partner in a collaborative effort to reduce rail-traffic conflicts in Lower Mainland communities.

We've also proposed that a Roberts Bank Noise Management Committee be established with the railways and community partners to address the issue of rail noise.

We understand that we can't put more train cars in your community without helping to manage the impacts. That's what we're doing through collaboration with railways and community partners, through operational improvements and by direct investment in rail solutions.

Another concern that has been raised by Delta residents is air quality. As part of our planning process for D3, we carried out an extensive air quality assessment in Delta and throughout the Fraser Valley airshed.

Our analysis considered air emissions from all sources -- terminal equipment, trucks, trains and marine vessels -- during both construction and operations. Ultimately, it showed that impacts on air quality associated with the Deltaport project are minimal.

Air quality in the immediate vicinity of the project will more than meet the GVRD's existing and proposed standards -- standards that are considered to be the most stringent in North America.

Despite meeting and exceeding these standards, however, the VPA continues to work to reduce air emissions from port operations.

Our goal is to reduce the overall contribution that port and related activities make to air emissions in the Lower Mainland over the next 15 years -- even while our operations grow.

You'll be pleased to know that, together with improvements in air emissions from other sources, air quality in Delta and throughout the Lower Mainland is actually projected to improve over the next 15-20 years.

The other issue that's received a lot of attention of late is the potential impact that D3 could have on the marine environment at Roberts Bank.

Although the project will have a relatively small footprint -- about 0.2 square kilometers -- we take our commitment to maintaining eco-system health at Roberts Bank very seriously. We understand that it's an important and sensitive area for marine wildlife and coastal seabirds.

That's why we're working with Environment Canada and other federal and provincial agencies to develop a comprehensive and long-term sustainability plan for Roberts Bank -- one that goes far beyond the Deltaport Third Berth Project.

As I mentioned earlier, our goal has been to define a project that eliminates and minimizes negative effects on the environment wherever possible. Where effects cannot be fully mitigated, we are committed to providing suitable compensation.

As such, while we were successful in limiting the development footprint of D3 to just 0.2 square kilometers, we have made a commitment to create replacement habitat for affected areas.

We are currently working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to finalize our habitat compensation proposal to ensure that the Deltaport Third Berth Project has no net effect on productive habitat in the project area.

As a result of the habitat compensation program and other initiatives, we are very confident that our project will have no impact on the overall health of coastal seabirds and other wildlife at Roberts Bank.

Which brings me to an important recent development:

As many of you will know, the Vancouver Port Authority submitted a request last week for an extension to the federal and provincial government review of the Deltaport Third Berth Project.

We expect that the environmental assessment process will be extended for a period of about 8-10 weeks.

We have sought this extension for a simple reason -- so we have the time necessary to design and build the best possible project at Roberts Bank.

Environment Canada has asked that we work with them to define a long-term sustainability plan for Roberts Bank.
Were doing that.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has asked that we work with them to refine our habitat compensation program. We're doing that too.

The result of those two initiatives is that we need more time to finalize our plans for the Deltaport Third Berth Project.

But we're more than happy to slow down our development schedule, to work with our partners at the federal, provincial and community level, if that means we can design and build a better project. That's precisely what we intend to do.

So that's a quick overview of where we stand with the Deltaport Third Berth project today.

We still expect the regulatory review of our proposal to wrap up in 2005, and a decision to be reached by the federal and provincial governments by the end of the year.

We are working very hard to design a project that not only serves the needs of the provincial and national economies. But one that respects the needs of this community -- that addresses your issues and concerns, and protects the values that are important to you.

And it's not just in the context of the Deltaport Third Berth Project that we want to be seen as a respected and contributing member of this community. It's in everything that we do.

The Vancouver Port Authority wants to foster and maintain a public dialogue that addresses all of the issues raised by port operations in this community.

We want to build a project and a port facility that the people of Delta can embrace and be proud of.

We want to develop legacy projects, endowment funds and community partnerships that will benefit the people of Delta for years to come.

We want to help alleviate traffic congestion in your community by contributing to the enhancement of the road and railway system.

We want to fund and support community programs that benefit your children and your families.

And we want to provide solutions that protect the eco-system at Roberts Bank.

We want to lead the charge in sustainable development.

Our goals are long-termas is our commitment to the people and the community of Delta.

And in particular, we want port expansion to serve as a catalyst for Delta to achieve its transportation and community goals.

You know, the B.C. government has called for some $4 billion in public and private sector investment in the province's strategic transportation infrastructure -- its ports, railways and roads -- over the next 15 years.

That's a heck of a lot of investment, and I will personally work to ensure that the people of this community receive their fair share.

By virtue of our geography, it's the role of British Columbia to be Canadas gateway for Asia Pacific trade.

By virtue of our environment, it's our role to be stewards of a coastline that is the envy of the world.

And by virtue of our values, it's our role to maintain and enhance the quality of life in our communities.

At VPA, we believe we can fulfill all of these roles if we work together to protect the interests that we all share.

Thank you for your attention.




For more information, please contact:

Anne McMullin,
Director, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Vancouver Port Authority
(604) 665-9069 (office)
(604) 665-9073 (fax)
(604) 218-1403 (cellular)
anne.mcmullin@portvancouver.com

For more information:
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Or, send an email to:
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