WHEREAS dredging of the Fraser River and secondary channels was conducted by Public Works Canada until the late 1990s; AND WHEREAS the secondary channels of the Fraser River are being filled with sediment, affecting safe access for marine traffic, fish boats and float home safety: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that senior governments provide adequate long term funding to reinstate the secondary channel dredging program and that the new amalgamated Vancouver Fraser Port Authority be responsible for secondary channel dredging.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure The dredging of the Fraser River Delta is an ongoing process to counteract and mitigate the impacts of natural infilling and maintain the depth of the River channel to accommodate deep sea vessels with a draft up to 11.5 metres. The continued dredging of sediment build up is very crucial to international and local trade and the livelihood of the waterfront communities. Imports and exports in the River Delta include containers, pulp, steel and automobiles which could easily be impacted with any reduced dredging activities or be lost to US West Coast Ports or result in additional costs to consumers by using alternative methods of delivery. The channel dredging maintenance activities are done by Fraser River Pile and Dredge and current funding is provided by the Port Metro Vancouver PMV. PMV has allocated 14 million for dredging for the fiscal year 2008-2009. For prior fiscal years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, the Asian-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative APGCI contributed a sum of 4 million towards the dredging process. Neither PMV nor the Province intend at this time to establish long term funding for dredging.
Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities While all Canadian port authorities, including the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, fall under the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities portfolio, Canadian port authorities act as autonomous entities. The Authority is therefore responsible both for determining its dredging needs and for undertaking any dredging required. I should note that Transport Canada does not have a specific program with respect to funding dredging activities. Given the flood protection benefits of dredging for local communities, all stakeholders, including the Province of British Columbia and the municipalities affected, should consider what role they might be able to play with respect to dredging the Fraser River. Should you have any additional questions or concerns on this matter, I would encourage you to contact the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
PORT METRO VANCOUVER Port Metro Vancouver undertook dredging of the main channel of the Fraser River from its mouth in the Strait of Georgia up to New Westminster in 1999, after the federal government Coast Guard decided it was going to cease its dredging program. The Port Authority, which funds itself solely through its commercial interests, undertook that activity in order to service the deep-sea terminals located along the river; we will continue to dredge for as long as it remains a sustainable undertaking for us. Following the amalgamation of the three Lower Mainland Port Authorities in January 2008, Port Metro Vancouver undertook the development of a sustainable dredging policy which we are now in the process of finalizing and implementing with the input and cooperation of our tenants. We developed this policy to provide a discipline to our approach to dredging, and to look at how we as members of the local marine community can contribute towards solutions while recognizing we are neither mandated nor able to undertake the entire burden ourselves. The policy recognizes there is a need amongst river users to remove significant amounts of sediment accreting in many of the commercial and local channels serving smaller vessels and some float home communities. Depending on the size and use of the channel, we are looking at cost sharing, cost recovery, or making financial contributions to locally-developed sustainable dredging plans. To the resolution, we welcome the interest of local governments. Should they be successful in obtaining government funding for commercial and or local channels there is no doubt it would ease the mounting financial burden facing all of the river stakeholders who are going to have to find a way to deal with the ongoing accretion of river sediment. However, Port Metro Vancouver would not want to be made responsible for secondary channel dredging without there being serious exploration and resolution around issues such as sustainable funding sources for the increased activity, expectation, and liabilities. To simply be made responsible for dredging without addressing key issues would be both untenable and unsustainable.