Yesterday, the Government of Canada approved the Port of Vancouver's Roberts Bank Terminal 2 (RBT2) project. The approval is subject to an unprecedented 370 legally binding conditions and an additional $195M in subsidies. This approval comes despite significant opposition to the project and grave concerns from Environment and Climate Change Canada, labour, community groups and many others. This $3.5+ billion taxpayer-funded container terminal expansion project will build a massive artificial island in the ecologically sensitive Salish Sea.
RBT2 will be the world's most expensive container terminal expansion project. It has no terminal operator in place, and it creates environmental impacts that Environment and Climate Change Canada concluded are unmitigable and "permanent, irreversible, and continuous." RBT2, as proposed, will not improve Canada's trading competitiveness, export capacity nor solve the supply chain issues experienced over the past two years or in the future.
As a leading maritime employer, Government decisions impacting the waterfront are important to us and our workforce. GCT will take the next few days to review the decision and conditions in detail.
GCT’s commitment to our employees, workforce, neighbours, and the communities in which we operate is to advance what we believe is the best solution for Canada's trading needs and the competitiveness of our business.
Our prime focus remains to deliver leading service to our ocean carrier customers and collaborating with our supply chain partners to enhance the effective operation of Canada's Pacific Gateway.