It all started with a motion last December.
At the last 2013 council meeting, Coun. Sav Dhaliwal brought up how two chief medical officers from Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health Authority, Dr. Patricia Daly and Dr. Paul Van Buynder, slammed the environmental impact assessment by SNC-Lavalin and wrote letters to inform Port Metro Vancouver of that.
By the time the issue came up again on Jan. 13, it was just two days after the CP train derailed on CN's tracks and dumped three car loads of 40 tonnes of metallurgical coal into Silver Creek. The spill was fresh on all of council's minds, and when the motion came forward to oppose the environmental impact assessment by SNC-Lavalin over a coal expansion at Fraser Surrey Docks, Mayor Derek Corrigan was candid with his views on policy and process around the issue.
Corrigan's comments struck a chord with the public, likening living in B.C. to that of a "banana republic" created a field day for media outlets and the public at large (see below). The video of his comments were posted on YouTube and have now reached almost 18,000 views.
But, on Jan. 30, John Parker-Jervis, Port Metro Vancouver's media and government affairs advisor, emailed the Burnaby NOW outlining four key facts he says were misrepresented by Corrigan's comments.
Parker-Jervis says the Port Metro Vancouver board of directors will not financially benefit from the Fraser Surrey Docks approval, and that under the Canada Marine Act, Port Metro's board members do not make individual permitting decisions.
Also, Port Metro Vancouver did not directly hire SNC-Lavalin, according to the fact sheet. It required Fraser Surrey Docks to conduct an environmental assessment. The decision was made by the project proponent of the docks.
The statement about coal destined for the proposed project being refused by American ports is "untrue." Currently, several project proposals are under review, including the Gateway Pacific Terminal in Cherry Point, Washington, which will handle 48 million tonnes of coal per year. The U.S. exports more than 100 million tonnes of coal each year.
Port Metro Vancouver says it also currently utilizes short-sea shipping across its jurisdiction.
