We stand, as always, at a fork in the river. Not just because we call Delta home, but because this community, province, and nation stand between two different and opposite visions for the future.
It is folly to call one progressive and another regressive, moral and immoral. When a problem gets big enough both sides will claim the high ground over the other. Likewise, villainy does not lie in political camps or ideologies, but in the actions of individuals and in individual actions.
This week, we engage with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) about the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s (VFPA) proposal to expand Robert’s Bank into a super port. This is not a debate about whether industry is needed (it most certainly is) or whether the environment is worth saving (nothing could be of greater importance to human continuation). It is about whether a manmade island the size of almost 350 football fields leads our community towards a future that we desire.
I must restate that it is not industry that is on trial, but the intentions of the VFPA and the Terminal 2 proposal that must be scrutinized. Like the former head of the BC Liberal Party, Rich Coleman, comparing a farm bill to the Holocaust, we can only judge each instance on its own merit.
I cannot speak for anyone else, but my vision for a desirable future does not include the mass industrialization of Delta and the Fraser River. For that reason, I am vehemently opposed to turning the shoreline of Tsawwassen into a super port; I am opposed to the VFPA cannibalizing 1,500 acres of Delta farmland to serve the industrial needs of that super port; and I am appalled yet woefully unsurprised that hundreds of acres of ALR have already been optioned by real estate speculators the additional 2,500 acres of industrial capacity that the port will need by 2035. Needless to say, and I am sure you are getting tired of hearing me say it, the VFPA’s Terminal 2 expansion is a terrible idea for Delta.
The need for industrial viability is self-evident, as are the reasons not to move forward with the project. There were other, cheaper, better options (which were ignored). Also, the VFPA consistently exaggerates the dire need for expansion, saying we will lose U.S. business (this is refuted by VFPA’s own consultants who say that Canada would not lose business to the U.S. until 2040 and Deltaport’s president who states that B.C. has enough container capacity into the 2030s).
Judge the actions of individuals, not ideologies. Unfortunately, the actions of the VFPA appear to be the actions of a tyrannical organization that has the powers of government with none of its responsibilities. Their actions speak of a vision for an industrialized Delta that I do not agree with. I see Delta becoming more of what it is, a safe, beautiful, family-focused community, and together we can make decisions made lead us towards that future.
What’s your vision?
Community advocate Nicholas Wong ran as an independent candidate in Delta South in the 2017 provincial election. He finished second with more than 6,400 votes. He can be reached at [email protected].
