Evidence of meeting #60 for Fisheries and Oceans in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was rupert.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:55 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
The Haida are not in our jurisdiction, so they haven't been a part of our consultative conversations.
9:55 a.m.
NDP
Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC
Okay. Because if there were a spill, of course, Haida interests would be affected as well in Hecate Strait.
9:55 a.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Robert Sopuck
Thank you very much.
Mr. Hardie, please, for seven minutes.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First of all, I want to talk about the southern resident killer whales. They had been in decline. From the looks of things, they are now at least stable. I gather that there will be some specific measures taken under the oceans protection plan to work with shipping and with other activities to make sure the population regains more health.
Certainly, we've stopped the slide, and there's obviously a key interest in preserving this, but that is also against the backdrop of what we need as increased trade. I wonder if either of you can put your crystal ball in front of you and give us an idea of what level of increase we can expect in shipping from the Port of Vancouver and the Port of Prince Rupert if things go well and trade is good.
9:55 a.m.
President, Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia
I'll jump at this one first. Some of my response is speculative. I think we will see increased trade. There will be increased volumes of trade. I would expect that the numbers of vessel movements will not increase dramatically but that we'll see larger vessels carrying those cargoes, especially in the bulk commodities and containerized traffic. I think there will be small increases in the number of vessels but larger increases in the volume of cargo carried.
What does that really entail? It entails that some of the challenges we face today will be similar challenges tomorrow. Obviously, in a challenge like that of the southern resident killer whales, this is a long-term solution. The impact or the positive results won't be realized quickly. The species declined over decades, and it will be decades in recovery.
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Is the infrastructure in place to deal with larger vessels in both your ports?
9:55 a.m.
President, Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia
I'll let Mr. Krusel respond to the Port of Prince Rupert.
Yes, in certain cases. I think that we will look for increases in efficiency in the way that we move cargo, especially in the gateway into Vancouver. There are a lot of people focused on that, and a lot of government...
9:55 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
I understand, Mr. Lewis-Manning. I'm sorry. I'm short of time here, so I really need to focus.
Mr. Krusel?
9:55 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
We expect a lot of increase in the north coast. That's just as I stated. We anticipate considerable growth in the traffic and the volume moving through Prince Rupert simply because we have the land, and we have the competitive advantage that is necessary.
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
We are looking at that. In anticipation of that growth, we are planning for how that increased traffic will work effectively and in a balanced way. We are looking at shipping lanes to ensure that those vessels move in and out of the harbour safely.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
I would imagine there will be some effort to avoid marine protected areas.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
Good.
I want to talk a bit about the port authority's role in environmental assessment, because you do that, don't you?
10 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
We do with certain projects.
10 a.m.
Liberal
10 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
I'm not sure what that cautionary principle....
10 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
I don't think so. I have staff who conduct that, so I'm not aware....
10 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
The reason for asking is that you've mentioned that you're blessed with a lot of industrial land. There has been some focus of concern on the siting of the gas plant on Lelu Island and the proximity to the eelgrass.
With as much land as you have, why there and why not someplace that wasn't so sensitive?
10 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
This could be a half-hour discussion. I can tell you that the siting was done with extreme consultation with the environment in hand. As well, that particular proponent developed a plan that would cost them an extra $1 billion to to ensure that the environment was protected.
Given how certain projects—because there were quite a large number of potential LNG projects that were sited in Prince Rupert and are still sited. They took the last parking spot available, and then they did their utmost to protect the environment in their design. Now that the market has changed, we are working with that particular proponent to look at other potential areas that may have less risk.
I guess I'll leave it at that.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
I would suggest that's the precautionary principle at work.
10 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Prince Rupert Port Authority
If that's the definition, then, yes, we adhere to the cautionary principle.
10 a.m.
Liberal
Ken Hardie Liberal Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC
I'll put this to both of you. We had a chap from Simon Fraser University who wasn't necessarily sold on MPAs as being the only or the most effective way of preserving the ecology of the ocean in certain areas.
Are there alternatives that you're aware of or are there other things that would be complementary to a marine protected area that we should also be thinking about?
10 a.m.
President, Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia
I think marine spatial planning in general is complementary. We can't be afraid to look at areas of high activity because we need to measure what's happening to the ecology and what's happening to the human activity. At least in my humble opinion, sometimes the establishment of MPAs is approached in areas where there is less human activity. However, we actually should concentrate on areas where there is also high activity.