Fisheries Committee on May 9th, 2017

[Don Krusel]

The Haida are not in our jurisdiction, so they haven't been a part of our consultative conversations.

[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.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Robert Sopuck]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Hardie, please, for seven minutes.

[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.

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

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.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Is the infrastructure in place to deal with larger vessels in both your ports?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

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...

[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?

[Don Krusel]

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.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Do you then see pressure to create new shipping lanes?

[Don Krusel]

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.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I would imagine there will be some effort to avoid marine protected areas.

[Don Krusel]

Absolutely.

[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?

[Don Krusel]

We do with certain projects.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Do you hold to the DFO's precautionary principle?

[Don Krusel]

I'm not sure what that cautionary principle....

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I guess the answer's no, then.

[Don Krusel]

I don't think so. I have staff who conduct that, so I'm not aware....

[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?

[Don Krusel]

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.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I would suggest that's the precautionary principle at work.

[Don Krusel]

If that's the definition, then, yes, we adhere to the cautionary principle.

[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?

[Robert Lewis-Manning]

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.