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House Hansard - 212

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 13, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 212 - Jun/14/23
Mr. Irek Kusmierczyk (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Lib.)
  • Jun/14/23 1:00:35 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her questions regarding the Roberts Bank terminal 2 project. Canada's transportation network is essential to the transportation of approximately $1.2 billion in goods between Canada and international markets. However, congestion is a major problem on Canada's west coast because there is no redundancy in the system. Recent supply chain disruptions such as floods, fires and pandemics have shown the results of insufficient transportation capacity, higher prices, lower business competitiveness and ports congested with vessels and containers. Port backlogs affect the entire supply chain. This hurts all Canadians, including families who need to pay for more goods, businesses whose deliveries are often late and local communities who must cope with vessels at anchor. There will be more congestion if we refuse to build new transportation infrastructure. That includes more container handling capacity required to support Canadians, including the millions of new residents that we plan to welcome to our country in the next few decades. Roberts Bank terminal 2 is expected to increase the Port of Vancouver's ability to handle containers by about 50%, addressing critical container handling capacity issues while also helping Canadian businesses gain access to growing international markets. In addition, Roberts Bank terminal 2 is expected to support more than 1,500 jobs at the terminal, potentially 15,000 jobs off the terminal and countless more jobs across the country in manufacturing, retail and agriculture. The Government of Canada takes its environmental responsibilities seriously. The positive environmental assessment is based on a strong, scientific assessment carried out by an independent review panel and comprehensive consultations with local communities and indigenous groups. Consequently, the project is subject to 370 legally binding conditions that protect the environment. The conditions include protections for marine mammals, including for Southern Resident killer whales. The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority will be required to ensure that the project does not increase underwater vessel noise in the Salish Sea, an important part of minimizing disruptions to the whales. These conditions rely on the existing and planned work by the Government of Canada, including all the protection measures in place to reduce the impact of marine traffic on the southern resident killer whales. The announcement in budget 2023 of $152 million to protect endangered whales shows our commitment to doing this important work. The other conditions imposed on the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority include more than 100 measures to protect the local fauna, as well as develop and implement an adaptive management approach to prevent any adverse impacts on migratory birds. They also set out the requirement to use emissions free handling equipment and to provide enough provisions to the ships when they are docked at the terminal. With these strong measures, the Government of Canada is committed to protecting the environment while ensuring that projects critical to Canada's economy, workers and businesses can proceed in a responsible manner. Approval of Roberts Bank terminal 2 is an important step in securing Canada's supply chains for the future.
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