VANCOUVER - Port Metro Vancouver was looking for fresh blood and an outsider's perspective to oversee its development plans when it appointed Robin Silvester as its president and CEO in March 2009.
His perspective on the relative merits of industrial and agricultural land uses hasn't been universally welcomed, however, with recent comments made in an interview with B.C. Business magazine this fall sparking outrage.
Questioned regarding the concerns of farmland advocates, who feel agriculture’s long-term value in the region shouldn't weigh in the balance with port development, Silvester pointed out that the port makes a point of consulting with the communities where it operates, but overall agriculture is of minor economic importance to the region.
"Almost meaningless"
"Agriculture is emotionally important, but economically [of] relatively low importance to the Lower Mainland. And in terms of food security, [it] is almost meaningless for the Lower Mainland," he told the magazine.
The comments have elicited strong reactions in the agricultural community, especially given the port's ambitious expansion plans for container handling facilities in Delta and Tsawwassen First Nation's plans for 300 acres of industrial development - some of it on former agricultural land.
Port Metro Vancouver's acquisition of 220 acres in Richmond in 2009 and its stated need for 2,700 acres for development in the next 20 years have also concerned farmers, who have also borne the brunt of construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road that will link port facilities in Delta with warehousing facilities in Langley.
South Delta MLA Vicki Huntington (who sits as an independent in the legislature) took out a full-page ad in local papers to raise awareness of Silvester's comments and urge people to write the premier to voice their concern.
Ads said: "Unacceptable"
"Unacceptable, Mr. Silvester. This land is our home. Our heritage. Our wildlife habitat. Our community. Unacceptable, Mr. Silvester," the ads declared.
"What they do is pull the rug out [from under] a very important industry in Delta - it's 25 per cent of the GDP of Delta," Huntington told Country Life in B.C. "What more does Mr. Silvester need to begin to understand that agricultural land has an important role to play?"
Still, Huntington was pleased to see Silvester being frank about the port's plans, noting in a letter to local papers that he had finally said what no elected official would dare say.
"Finally, honesty from someone in a position of power," Huntington wrote in her letter. "Our Premiers and their governments have known it was too political to admit to - that Delta's agricultural land will be turned into an industrial park"
With most expecting a large swathe of farm land west of Highway 17 to become industrial, Silvester's comments have given credence to fears that the port's consultation process regarding expansion of container facilities in Delta - and which Silvester touted in his interview with BC Business- is a mere formality.
"We no longer have to guess about the agenda anymore," Huntington told Country Life in B.C. "What it does is makes a mockery of this six or seven year consultation process because they aren't consulting with the public about how to expand, they're consulting with the public in order to tell them how they are expanding. And you just feel so helpless."
Huntington feels helpless even after having raised the issue in the legislature with agriculture minister Don McRae, who sidestepped her questions.
"Will the Minister of Agriculture repudiate Mr. Silvester's attack on B.C.'s most productive land and defend agriculture in B.C., and is he prepared to tell the port that preserving farmland in Delta is not just emotional but is crucial for both the well-being of our farmers and the survival of the Pacific migratory bird flyway?" Huntington asked McRae on October 31.
McRae responded by voicing his support for and pride in Delta agriculture while noting that migratory birds are a federal responsibility and that changes subsequently proposed in early November to the province's Agricultural land Commission would strengthen farmland protection.
ALC is independent
"As the member opposite also knows, the Agricultural Land Commission is independent from government," McRae said at the time, according to Hansard transcripts of the debate. "Their job is to preserve farmland and quality farmland in this province and protect the farmer: I am very excited for the near future, member opposite."
Huntington wasn't satisfied and hopes to raise the issue in the legislature again. "We're doing some thinking about what the next steps should be," she said. "There's a desire in Delta to try and have the community voice heard on what has happened to the land since the port has expanded, and it's quite obvious to us that this port will continue to expand and continue to chew up the land that is left."
And that, Huntington said, "is just not on." The land is highly productive - retiring UBC professor Art Bomke recently singled out Westham Island as having some of the most productive grain-growing land in Canada - and is essential migratory bird habitat.
"Without it, the flyway will just collapse. The port just doesn't get it," Huntington said.
"[Silvester's] lens is exceedingly narrow; he filters out everything else that is important," she said. "His bottom line and the movement of the goods that his port brings into this province is what he is interested in and all that he is interested in, primarily because he doesn't understand the value of agriculture to Delta and to the migratory bird flyway."
Port essential for food security Silvester does recognize the importance of planning for local agriculture; however, he notes that it's not the sole means of feeding ourselves in a global world. At another point in his interview with BC Business, he told the reporter that trade – and hence the port - was essential to food security.
"We, as the inhabitants of the Lower Mainland, are dependent on trade for our food," he said, adding that planning efforts nevertheless have to take both port lands and farms into account.
"[Agriculture] is an important planning issue. We don't want to live in areas that are solely industrial."
Printer-friendly version
VANCOUVER - Port Metro Vancouver was looking for fresh blood and an outsider's perspective to oversee its development plans when it appointed Robin Silvester as its president and CEO in March 2009.
His perspective on the relative merits of industrial and agricultural land uses hasn't been universally welcomed, however, with recent comments made in an interview with B.C. Business magazine this fall sparking outrage.
Questioned regarding the concerns of farmland advocates, who feel agriculture’s long-term value in the region shouldn't weigh in the balance with port development, Silvester pointed out that the port makes a point of consulting with the communities where it operates, but overall agriculture is of minor economic importance to the region.
"Almost meaningless"
"Agriculture is emotionally important, but economically [of] relatively low importance to the Lower Mainland. And in terms of food security, [it] is almost meaningless for the Lower Mainland," he told the magazine.
The comments have elicited strong reactions in the agricultural community, especially given the port's ambitious expansion plans for container handling facilities in Delta and Tsawwassen First Nation's plans for 300 acres of industrial development - some of it on former agricultural land.
Port Metro Vancouver's acquisition of 220 acres in Richmond in 2009 and its stated need for 2,700 acres for development in the next 20 years have also concerned farmers, who have also borne the brunt of construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road that will link port facilities in Delta with warehousing facilities in Langley.
South Delta MLA Vicki Huntington (who sits as an independent in the legislature) took out a full-page ad in local papers to raise awareness of Silvester's comments and urge people to write the premier to voice their concern.
Ads said: "Unacceptable"
"Unacceptable, Mr. Silvester. This land is our home. Our heritage. Our wildlife habitat. Our community. Unacceptable, Mr. Silvester," the ads declared.
"What they do is pull the rug out [from under] a very important industry in Delta - it's 25 per cent of the GDP of Delta," Huntington told Country Life in B.C. "What more does Mr. Silvester need to begin to understand that agricultural land has an important role to play?"
Still, Huntington was pleased to see Silvester being frank about the port's plans, noting in a letter to local papers that he had finally said what no elected official would dare say.
"Finally, honesty from someone in a position of power," Huntington wrote in her letter. "Our Premiers and their governments have known it was too political to admit to - that Delta's agricultural land will be turned into an industrial park"
With most expecting a large swathe of farm land west of Highway 17 to become industrial, Silvester's comments have given credence to fears that the port's consultation process regarding expansion of container facilities in Delta - and which Silvester touted in his interview with BC Business- is a mere formality.
"We no longer have to guess about the agenda anymore," Huntington told Country Life in B.C. "What it does is makes a mockery of this six or seven year consultation process because they aren't consulting with the public about how to expand, they're consulting with the public in order to tell them how they are expanding. And you just feel so helpless."
Huntington feels helpless even after having raised the issue in the legislature with agriculture minister Don McRae, who sidestepped her questions.
"Will the Minister of Agriculture repudiate Mr. Silvester's attack on B.C.'s most productive land and defend agriculture in B.C., and is he prepared to tell the port that preserving farmland in Delta is not just emotional but is crucial for both the well-being of our farmers and the survival of the Pacific migratory bird flyway?" Huntington asked McRae on October 31.
McRae responded by voicing his support for and pride in Delta agriculture while noting that migratory birds are a federal responsibility and that changes subsequently proposed in early November to the province's Agricultural land Commission would strengthen farmland protection.
ALC is independent
"As the member opposite also knows, the Agricultural Land Commission is independent from government," McRae said at the time, according to Hansard transcripts of the debate. "Their job is to preserve farmland and quality farmland in this province and protect the farmer: I am very excited for the near future, member opposite."
Huntington wasn't satisfied and hopes to raise the issue in the legislature again. "We're doing some thinking about what the next steps should be," she said. "There's a desire in Delta to try and have the community voice heard on what has happened to the land since the port has expanded, and it's quite obvious to us that this port will continue to expand and continue to chew up the land that is left."
And that, Huntington said, "is just not on." The land is highly productive - retiring UBC professor Art Bomke recently singled out Westham Island as having some of the most productive grain-growing land in Canada - and is essential migratory bird habitat.
"Without it, the flyway will just collapse. The port just doesn't get it," Huntington said.
"[Silvester's] lens is exceedingly narrow; he filters out everything else that is important," she said. "His bottom line and the movement of the goods that his port brings into this province is what he is interested in and all that he is interested in, primarily because he doesn't understand the value of agriculture to Delta and to the migratory bird flyway."
Port essential for food security Silvester does recognize the importance of planning for local agriculture; however, he notes that it's not the sole means of feeding ourselves in a global world. At another point in his interview with BC Business, he told the reporter that trade – and hence the port - was essential to food security.
"We, as the inhabitants of the Lower Mainland, are dependent on trade for our food," he said, adding that planning efforts nevertheless have to take both port lands and farms into account.
"[Agriculture] is an important planning issue. We don't want to live in areas that are solely industrial."