Deadline 3-Dec-2018 (Mon) for public input on Ports Modernization Review by federal government: Key concerns

“Transport Canada wants to hear from key partners and stakeholders, including Canada Port Authorities, Indigenous groups, provincial and municipal governments, industry; academia and experts; and associations/groups that have a particular interest in port activities.” (Image and caption credit: Transport Canada website)

The ports around Metro Vancouver have a huge impact on transportation, road and marine traffic, the environment, employment, farmland, and the quality of life. It is important that the public provide input into this review process. Many aspects of the  Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) are invisible to the public, but this material below sheds a lot of light on things.

Susan Jones of the Boundary Bay Conservation Committee has done a huge amount of research and work on these topics. Below we share text on recommended points to make in public input, plus a copy of the BBCC’s detailed submission to the Port Modernization Review.

Here is just a gist of some of the points:

• Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) needs to be regulated and managed by the federal government as it currently operates without any credible accountability.
• The federally-appointed Board of Directors is chosen from business interests. There is effectively no representation of local, social, environmental or indigenous issues.
• The current mandate of the VFPA should be terminated as it has transformed port management into an unaccountable corporation working against the public interest.
• … Currently, without public input, millions of federal tax dollars are used to provide port infrastructure, some which creates traffic congestion and gridlock, as well as inappropriate use of public lands.
• There is a LOT more. Please read on, and remember …

Please Act Now! Deadline: December 3, 2018

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Notice about Ports Modernization Review

The federal government is undertaking a Port Modernization Review and the deadline for public input is Monday December 3rd.

https://letstalktransportation.ca/ports-modernization-review

Please make a submission by either:

Sending an email to: tc.portsreview-examendesports.tc@tc.gc.ca

OR

More complicated: Visit the following link, register, add comments and/or make a submission.

https://letstalktransportation.ca/ports-modernization-review

Further below is text of a submission by the Boundary Bay Conservation Committee.

Points you may wish to consider when urging reform of the management of Canadian Ports:

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Port of Metro Vancouver: Land Use Plan amendments (land acquired + divested). Open houses in June 2018

For public attention. The Port of Metro Vancouver (@PortVancouver) is an important player and land holder in this region. It is acquiring and divesting of properties as part of its land use plan.

Concerned groups and individual are encouraged to read below, attend one of the public open houses, and provide input to Metro Vancouver. See official info online here.

Open house dates (see further below for exact locations)

Delta | Richmond | Surrey – Saturday, June 16, 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
District of North Vancouver – Wednesday, June 27, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Port Coquitlam – Thursday, June 28, 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

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Port of Metro Vancouver (@PortVancouver)

Notice of Land Use Plan Amendments (June 2018)

Over the past year, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has acquired sites in the District of North Vancouver, Port Coquitlam, Delta, Richmond, and Surrey. The port authority has also divested a total of 13 lots located in the District of North Vancouver, Delta and Surrey.

We are required by the Canada Marine Act to add the newly acquired sites to our Land Use Plan by way of an amendment and give them a port authority land use designation. Similarly, the divested lands must be removed from our Land Use Plan.

Land acquired

The following sites have been acquired and will be included in this year’s Land Use Plan Amendments:

• 1441 Dominion Street, District of North Vancouver
• 1305 & 1375 Kingsway Avenue, Port Coquitlam
• Roberts Bank Water Lot and Causeway, Delta
• Rail Expansion Lands, Delta
• South Fraser Perimeter Road Lands, Delta
• 11480 River Road, Richmond
• 10935 Timberland Road and 10960 – 10984 Olsen Road, Surrey

Public consultation period

Before amendments to our Land Use Plan can be implemented, we are required by the Canada Marine Act to hold a 60 day public consultation period.

The comment period runs from Friday, June 15 to Wednesday, August 15. During that time we will hold three open houses as well as an online engagement process.

Find out more below.

Land divested

The following sites are being removed from the port authority’s Land Use Plan as they are no longer under port authority jurisdiction:

• Maplewood Lands, District of North Vancouver
• South Fraser Perimeter Road Lands, Delta
• South Fraser Perimeter Road Lands, Surrey

Proposed amendments

[See online for maps, details.]

How to participate

B.C. undermines municipal tax base and affordability (Vancouver Sun, opinion, Elizabeth Murphy) – Provincial encroachment will cost owners and renters

CityHallWatch: Tools to engage in Vancouver city decisions

B.C. Legislature

This opinion piece appeared recently in the Vancouver Sun but has been seriously unreported and little discussed.

The unintended consequences of the property-tax surcharge haven’t been thought through, says Elizabeth Murphy. In this article she looks at the consequences. 

You are encouraged to contact your MLA if concerned and be sure to include Minister of Finance Carole James and Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Selina Robinson. We have bolded some sections for emphasis.

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B.C. undermines municipal tax base and affordability
By Elizabeth Murphy. Vancouver Sun, March 9, 2018.

Photo caption: Life is made less affordable for owners and renters by provincial encroachment into the municipal tax base.

The province recently introduced their budget, the first, full-year budget for the new NDP government. They claim it “puts people first, makes life more affordable for British Columbians.” Although there are many aspects to the budget that are…

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Too many looked the other way when it came to money laundering in B.C. – Commentary by Dermod Travis, IntegrityBC

CityHallWatch: Tools to engage in Vancouver city decisions

Laundromat. Photo not selected by IntegrityBC.

Commentary dated 22-March-2018 from Dermod Travis, executive director of IntegrityBC.

Could a similar question be posed of money laundering at B.C. casinos to that of the philosophical thought experiment, “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

The question might go like this: if money laundering happens and everyone looks the other way, was it really laundered?

Citing a till-then secret 2016 report by auditor MNP LLP, the Vancouver Sun’s Sam Cooper reported last fall that B.C.’s gaming policy and enforcement branch (GPEB) had “compiled a document which identified approximately $13.5 million in $20 bills being accepted at River Rock Casino in July 2015.”

The MNP report noted that: “Law enforcement intelligence has indicated (the funds) may be the direct proceeds of crime,” adding “casino staff are accepting these wads of cash…

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Rail group sees “massive conflict of interest” behind TransLink’s business cases on Broadway subway, Surrey LRT decisions, etc.

Citizens’ group Rail for the Valley has published a post today saying there appears to be a massive conflict of interest in decision-making behind two major transportation plans.

Excerpt here:

A Massive Conflict of Interest

Friday, February 16, 2018

Oh, what tangled webs we weave……..

The big news today is not the forthcoming announcement by the Premier and Minister of Transportation replacing the aged and decrepit Pattullo Bridge, with a new $1.6 billion bridge, rather it is revelation that so-called due diligence panels of handpicked experts who were hired to review TransLink’s business cases.

Included in the due diligence panels was a former SNC Lavalin Executive, yet SNC Lavalin hold the Engineering Patents for the ART Innovia proprietary light-metro system! In fact the due diligence panel, to review the TransLink business case for both the Broadway subway and Surrey’s LRT were filled with SkyTrain and light-metro types.

Even more disturbing, no one with any expertise with modern LRT, was on the panel.

As for TransLink’s Business Cases for transit projects, they are a joke, the Evergreen Line’s business case was easily shredded by transit expert Gerald Fox and the business case for the Canada Line allowed a subway to be built with just more than half the capacity needed to justify a subway!

A massive conflict of interest now hangs over both rail transit projects, abetted by Premier Horgan and Minister of Transportation Claire Travena.

The fix is in and with the Broadway Subway and the Surrey LRT, as the recommendations from the due diligence panels were censored from the briefing notes.

See full article here:

http://www.railforthevalley.com/latest-news/zweisystem/a-massive-conflict-of-interest/

 

New documentary “Watershed Guardians of the Fraser” River, Screening Oct 19 (Thurs)

Delta-Richmond Council of Canadians is pleased to confirm the first screening of a new documentary, Watershed Guardians of the Fraser River, and hope you will extend invitations by forwarding this email to your distribution list. Producer/director, Jocelyn Demers, will be on hand for discussion along with local individuals and organizations featured in the 68-minute film. Q&A with audience will follow.

Thursday, October 19, 2017
Doors open at 6:30 pm. Event starts at 7:00 pm.
Richmond Hospital Auditorium, 7000 Westminster Hwy
Free admission – donations welcome at the door
Easily accessible on public transit. Free parking in gravel lot marked “staff only” on north side of hospital. Enter parking lot from Westminster Hwy and take immediate left.

Trailer and reviews: https://www.mondefilms.com/
More information: deltarichmondcoc@gmail.com

Film review:
The Watershed Guardians of the Fraser River by filmmaker, Jocelyn Demers, presents an in-depth view of the rich interactive ecosystems of the Fraser River Watershed and the people who champion their protection. Eye-catching photography and accompanying commentaries draw attention to the global significance of the watershed which supports the most productive salmon river in the world, endangered orcas, sturgeon, and Canada’s major stopover for millions of migrating birds of the Pacific Flyway.
Commentators share concerns that the river, which once brought natural prosperity, is now under threat from human activities and industrialization. Streams providing fresh water are being filled in. Gravel extraction, dredging, contamination, dumping and barriers along the river banks are polluting and altering water flows causing degradation of ecosystems and the loss of biodiversity. Recognizing that the river provides humans with clean water, food, health, recreation, and connectivity with nature, advocates work to restore and protect the health of the watershed.
This thought-provoking documentary is a call for action as there is so much to lose.

Metro Vancouver consulting in Sept/Oct on doubling/tripling of Development Cost Charges for liquid waste infrastructure

Below is a message being circulated by Metro Vancouver (GVRD). Rates in are proposed to double or triple, depending on the sewerage area.

For detailed info on the proposed changes, click here. A consultation event is planned in each of four sewerage areas plus one webinar as follows: North Shore (Sept 19), Vancouver (Sept 20), Fraser (Surrey, Sept 21), Lulu (Richmond, Oct 3), Webinar (Oct 4). See below for details.

Any citizens who attend, we would welcome a report for posting. Any time a government seeks to increase charges is a good time to scrutinize its efficiency. Are current and proposed future charges reasonable, and how do they compare to comparable regions?

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BOTTOM LINE:

The current DCC rates (per unit for residential and per square foot for non-residential) are as follows:

Sewer Area	Single-Family	Townhouse	Apartment	Non-Residential
Vancouver	$944	$826	$590	$0.443 sq ft
​Lulu Island	​$1,077	​$942	​$673	​$0.505 sq ft
​North Shore	​$1,291	​$1,129	​$807	​$0.605 sq ft
​Fraser	​$1,731	​$1,515	​$1,082	​$0.811 sq ft

The proposed new rates are:

Sewer Area	Single-Family	Townhouse	Apartment	Non-Residential
Vancouver	$1,811	$1,618	$1,072	$0.93 sq ft
​Lulu Island	​$2,214	​$1,915	​$1,388	​$1.05 sq ft
​North Shore	​$2,300	​$2,076	​$1,416	​$1.20 sq ft
​Fraser	​$5,428	​$4,695	​$3,530	​$2.67 sq ft

According to our calculations the rates of increase are as follows. A “2.0” means a doubling.

 

Sewer Area	Single-Family	Townhouse	Apartment	Non-Residential
Vancouver	1.9	2.0	1.8	2.1
​Lulu Island	2.1	2.0	​2.1	​2.1
​North Shore	1.8	​1.8	1.8	2.0
​Fraser	3.1	​3.1	​3.3	3.3

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Metro Vancouver Development Cost Charge Review Consultation

Metro Vancouver is proposing updates to its Development Cost Charge (DCC) Program and invites you to participate in a series of consultation dialogues regarding the proposed updates.

Metro Vancouver’s DCC Program supports the expanding liquid waste infrastructure needed to support the region’s growing population. DCC rates have not been updated since their inception in 1997, despite the influx of significant development, the increasing need for the expansion of our liquid waste system and the increasing cost of infrastructure. As a result, Metro Vancouver initiated a DCC review process in 2015, with the expectation that the new DCC bylaw would be in place by the end of 2017 and implemented for April 1, 2018.

The proposed changes focus on the principle that ‘growth pays for growth’ and are based on the current financial model with growth projected over the next 30 years.

The proposed changes also recognize that the four sewerage areas — Vancouver, Lulu Island, North Shore and Fraser — each have a different cost profile as a result of population, growth rate, and prior infrastructure investments.

Consultation dialogues will be held in the four sewerage areas and will take place as follows, including a lunch from 11:30 to noon followed by a presentation and dialogue from noon to 1:30 pm. Registration is requested.

Tuesday, September 19, 2017	North Shore Sewerage Area	Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier 138 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver
Wednesday, September 20, 2017	Vancouver Sewerage Area	Sheraton Wall Centre 1088 Burrard St, Vancouver
Thursday, September 21, 2017	Fraser Sewerage Area	Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel 15269 104 Ave, Surrey
Monday, October 2, 2017	Fraser Sewerage Area	Anvil Centre 777 Columbia St, New Westminster
Tuesday, October 3, 2017	Lulu Sewerage Area	Executive Airport Plaza Hotel Richmond 7311 Westminster Hwy, Richmond
Wednesday, October 4, 2017	Webinar	Online

For more information on the proposed changes, please click here.

Register for Consultation

We look forward to your participation.

Greg Moore, Chair,
Metro Vancouver Board

Richard Walton, Chair,
Metro Vancouver Performance and Audit Committee

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Other Resources

For the Finance and Intergovernment Committee report on the DCC Program Review that was presented in July, please go to:
http://www.metrovancouver.org/boards/IntergovernmentFinance/FIC_Jul_19_2017_Agenda.pdf

Further Information

For more information on the DCC Program Review Project, please contact Dean Rear at dean.rear@metrovancouver.org or 604-436-6838.