The Livable Blog

 
Gunderson Slough - photos by Wanderin' Wheeta

On Wednesday February 16, I attended a meeting of the new North Delta Harbour Association – formed by the residents of Gunderson Slough – on the invitation of a friend who lives there. Sources indicate this as the site of BC's first cannery in 1870. Today it's an integral part of North Delta's historic Annieville neighbourhood, populated by fishermen and others who live and work on the Fraser River.

The South Fraser Perimeter Road freeway threatens to cut Gunderson Slough off from the community completely. There could be no free access of any kind by land to any other part of the neighbourhood or city, including food stores. An overpass was initially indicated for Elevator Road near Gunderson Slough, but the nearest reputed access at this time would be almost 3 kilometers away at Tannery Road, reportedly through Homeland Security-style screening gates at Fraser Surrey Docks.

The residents of the slough formed the Association to advocate for better treatment from Gateway, as well as from their landlord: Port Metro Vancouver. Three reps from Port Metro attended the meeting, and for the most part avoided giving direct answers to the many pointed questions. However, certain candid statements made by one of them about the SFPR are still sinking in.

In front of about 50 angry residents in the meeting room at George Mackie Library in Delta, Port Metro Vancouver Communications Adviser Sarah McPherson repeatedly stated the reason that neither she, nor anyone, can provide answers as to just what is happening with the SFPR in that area.

She said it's because the whole thing is in a state of limbo due to the BC Liberal leadership race.

I'll leave it up to you to try and parse out exactly what the implications of that are.

For me it raises any number of important questions, such as:

Why does it matter who the leader is? If this boondoggle is indeed the "done deal" they claim it to be, it should have been well out of the Premier's hands many months ago. Has it become so controversial, and remain so politicized, that the fate of an access road for a fishing village needs to be cleared at the highest levels of government? Are they so afraid of sparking yet another direct action or angry community group?

Is it too much of a hot potato for the leadership candidates to handle? Or is the provincial government simply running out of money, which puts the SFPR on shaky ground, ripe to be canceled on the other side of the leadership vote? Whatever the case, given the lack of certainty about the future of the project, why are public lands with endangered habitat being logged while a federal lawsuit challenging its very legality also hangs in the balance?

The people of Gunderson Slough would certainly like to know. They face an uncertain future even if the SFPR were to be canceled. Port Metro has been refusing to grant anything but short-term renewals to the many long-term leasers of the slough, and not re-leasing vacated lots. This puts a huge question mark over the future of the area, and drives down the value of existing leases and buildings.

In the agenda circulated at the meeting, the besieged residents of the slough describe themselves as "not corporate minded" and remind Port Metro staff to "respect the individuality of each property." Given the kind of massive industrial expansions apparently favoured by the Port, it seems unlikely that they intend to offer this kind of support to the community without a fight.

 
SFPR clearcutting in Annieville, and a container farm in neighbouring Sunbury

The steep slopes above the slough are being clearcut by SFPR crews, and silting up the river. Mudslides onto the existing train tracks around there are not unheard of.

This is the fossil fueled future of the region as envisioned by Gateway and the Port: denuded of colour and character, the banks of the mighty Fraser bled lifeless and paved over. A diverse network of neighbourhoods and ecosystems converted to a concrete landscape, fit only to carry the maximum possible number of identical shipping containers from somewhere far away to somewhere else far away.

If this is not the future you want, and you've decided that enough is enough, it's time to stand with the community. It's time to fight back and Join the Wave Against the Pave! on April 22. We have the initiative; the SFPR is on shaky ground. This movement has been steadily gaining momentum for over a year. Let's make a stand together and create an environmentally and socially just future for our region.

Kendale Creek at Gunderson Slough