The Livable Blog

Delta Council candidate Sylvia Bishop has come out swinging against the South Fraser Freeway. This could be a refreshing change, as all of the present Delta council member seem to think their job is to pave over Delta's farm land as quickly as possible.

A recent blog post on her website reads:

Delta, farmland, freeway, Gateway, SFPR, transportation
Stop! Thief! Arrest that freeway!
by Sylvia Bishop on July 13th, 2010

If we personified the South Fraser Perimeter Road and attributed human characteristics to it (in the spirit of Michael Moore’s “The Corporation“) we could charge the following: vandalism, property damage and loss of habitat. The freeway is a scar on the landscape as it carves its way through our precious farmland. In North Delta, is has destroyed family homes where in some cases, generations have lived. In North Surrey it runs a block away from an elementary school. With no regard for people, the freeway threatens wildlife confined to ever shrinking habitats. Endangered species are at further risk and may be lost.

And for what? An antiquated oil reliant transportation mode!

So we have two choices: act like a door mat and let them walk all over us or join forces in a mighty roar letting all levels of government know we want that freeway stopped. Arrest it.

Me? I’m for a loud and extended ROAR!
http://www.electsylviabishop.com/uncategorized/stop-thief-arrest-that-freeway/#respond

She has already gotten some media coverage on the issue:

Council candidate starts new campaign against SFPR

By Sandor Gyarmati, The Delta Optimist July 28, 2010

Delta council candidate Silvia Bishop helped kick off a new campaign against the South Fraser Perimeter Road project.

Attending International Bog Day at the Delta Nature Reserve Sunday, Bishop filled an envelope of sand taken from the pre-load from the South Fraser Perimeter Road, saying she'll mail it to Transportation Minister Shirley Bond as part of the "Sand for Shirley" campaign.

"I have traveled the full length of the 40-kilometre proposed freeway and am disturbed by the loss of farmland, demolition of neighbourhoods and destruction to the environment," said Bishop.

The Bridgeview Community Action Group and Sunbury Neighbourhood Association launched the campaign asking for the pre-load sand dumped along the route to be removed.

People are invited to join by filling out a form or signing an online petition at www.sandforshirley.ca

The SFPR will be a 40-kilometre, four-lane, route along the south side of the Fraser River, extending from Deltaport Way to 176th Street in Surrey, with connections to Highway 1, 91, 99 and the Golden Ears Bridge.

Construction of the new highway has been ongoing since 2008 with the completion date pushed back to 2013.

A community liaison committee was recently established to facilitate discussion between community representatives and the SFPR project team.
© Copyright (c) Delta Optimist

Read more: http://www.delta-optimist.com/Council+candidate+starts+campaign+against+SFPR/3332102/story.html#ixzz0v6tXBGTZ

It should be interesting to see what the other candidates have to say about the issue!

By Spring Gillard: A couple years ago I was actively involved in the fight to save Formosa Farm from being paved. We lost. The Pitt Meadows municipal government along with the same characters involved in the first travesty, are now trying to put in the second road. http://compostdiary.com/2010/06/06/biting-the-land-that-feeds-us/

Well, the 40th Earth Day and 1st Mother Earth Day has passed quietly. But something seems to have changed for the better, at least in the South of Fraser media - the Gateway freeways are being clearly identified as the threats to our Mother Earth they are.

For example, the Surrey Leader's Earth Day editorial read:

Like many 40-year-olds, maybe Earth Day and its proponents are facing a mid-life crisis of sorts; a period of reflection on accomplishments and regret over missed opportunities.

Locally, there are many examples of both.

A truck highway (the South Fraser Perimeter Road) is being built that will separate the community from a historically rich waterfront in North Delta, and broaches the edge of the “lungs of the Lower Mainland,” Burns Bog.

The Port Mann Bridge is being super-sized at great cost to accommodate an ever-increasing army of vehicles, while an under-funded TransLink struggles to maintain transit service. http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/opinion/91649429.html

The Pilgrimage to Burns Bog gets prominent coverage:

Burns Bog 'sacred,' pilgrimage organizers say

Photo: Karl Perrin puts up posters advertising the April 25 Pilgrimage to Burns Bog.
Rob Newell / Black Press

It’s a cathedral with lofty and leafy green spires.

There are fallen tree trunks for pews.

And there lies enough water in shallow basins for mass baptisms.

For those taking part in the annual Pilgrimage to Burns Bog on April 25, the wilderness area is sacred. Sacred enough to consider the bog land to be a holy place, deserved of their protection.

And they will walk to it and then revel in the quiet, natural beauty they feel is threatened by development and highway expansion in Delta.

[snip]

Its location, pretty much the centre of the Lower Mainland, is a prime one. So is the fact that it is home to a multitude of species (one count puts it at 24 mammals and 150 birds), some of which are rare such as the Sandhill Crane.

“The bog is not just rare where it is in the Lower Mainland, but in the world,” Perrin says. “And visiting it is truly a spiritual experience.”

“There’s a multitude of species that consider Burns Bog to be their home,” adds Hudec who is a Sister of Charity with an MA in Earth Literacy. “And in that way it becomes a sacred place not to be destroyed. It’s also the last bog on the west coast, so we have to care for it.”

The hike, which starts on nearby Annacis Island, crosses the Alex Fraser Bridge and ends at the Delta Nature Reserve, allows for only a small-scale observation of the 40-sq.-km. bog, but the event develops an appreciation for what it is, Perrin says.

While the federal, provincial and Delta governments combined with the then GVRD (now Metro Vancouver) in 2004 to preserve 2,042 hectares of the wetlands, Perrin feels the area is still threatened by the South Fraser Perimeter Road.

The Pilgrimage to Burns Bog begins April 25 at 1:30 p.m. on Annacis Island at the Quizno’s at 640 Chester Road. For more information visit pilgrimage2burnsbog.org.

editor@southdeltaleader.com

Then Surrey Leader articles repeatedly point out the folly of freeway expansion:

How healthy is the mighty Fraser?
By Jeff Nagel - Surrey North Delta Leader
[snip]
Port authorities, desperate to develop new dock terminals and use the lower river as a freight highway, have lately been snapping up waterfront land, some farm land.

One of the biggest projects advancing along the shore is the new South Fraser Perimeter Road, which critics say will bulldoze critical habitat and threaten the hydrology of Burns Bog.

Wilhelmson said there’s a widespread sense that development and business trump the environment and that pledges of stewardship, particularly the province’s environmental assessment process, are not to be trusted.

“We still don’t really consider the environment when it comes to developing our shorelines,” she said. “Look at the devastation we’ve done. Yet we still allow projects on shoreline, we still allow dumping. That’s only going to get worse the more people live here.”

The Outdoor Recreation Council of B.C., in its latest Endangered Rivers report, listed the Fraser as the fourth most endangered river in the province. [snip]
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/community/91639814.html

Volunteers bearing witness to nature
Ben West of the Wildnerness Committee at the South Fraser Witness Trail.
Boaz Joseph / The Leader

Upstream from the Port Mann Bridge, adjacent to Surrey Bend, is a strip of land in nearly pristine condition, looking much like Surrey did before people arrived.

Part bog, part thick forest on an undiked floodplain, it hosts an array of largely untouched flora and fauna.

A walk on a path through it reveals tiny bubbling streams glinting from whatever sunlight breaks through the thick canopy of moss-covered trees, a beaver dam under construction, and blankets of watercress on still puddles. A garter snake swiftly crosses the path. Above, a soft, musical “cheeriup” reveals a robin navigating its way through branches.

There’s only the barest glimpse of development: a railway storage yard to the east, and the roofs of houses at the top of a cliff on 168 Street north of 108 Avenue can be made out through the trees to the west.

“Pretty much where we’re standing right here is supposed to be four lanes of traffic,” says Tom Jaugelis.

A volunteer with Surrey Environmental Partners, Jaugelis spent several rainy weekends over the winter clearing out a narrow path, about three kilometres long (two as the crow flies) through the at-risk wetland.

It became the first leg of the South Fraser Witness Trail, a partnership of the Wilderness Committee (formerly bearing the Western Canada name) and Surrey Environmental Partners.

The urban wilderness – accessible on the C74 bus route – is what supporters hope is a bulwark against the Gateway project’s proposed South Fraser Perimeter Road (SFPR) route.
[snip]
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/community/91637544.html

Earlier in the week, Brian Lewis of The Province used the South Fraser Freeway as a prime example of government arrogance costing votes:

Huntington and her Delta constituents, you see, have seen all this before, in their own backyard.

They've seen an old and tired B.C. Liberal government resurrect well-worn, obsolete project ideas, ignore modern viable alternatives and, finally, ram them through despite public outcry.

They saw it with the controversial South Fraser Perimeter Road, which is now under preliminary construction in Delta and Surrey and, like Site C, is destroying significant amounts of farmland. The idea of the perimeter road was kicked around for years but still trumped more current options for moving Deltaport freight.

They saw it again when the Campbell government destroyed a Tsawwassen neighbourhood by choosing to run a high-voltage overhead transmission line through its heart to Vancouver Island, rather than bury the line or run it along a new non-residential route via Roberts Bank.

At the time, I said if the Campbell government can behave like this in Delta's backyard, it's capable of similar behaviour in other backyards. Subsequently, it was the B.C. Liberals' actions in Delta that led to Huntington's upset election as B.C.'s only independent MLA last spring.

[snip]

"I wonder what kind of province we will be passing on to the next generation?" Huntington asks. "I hope it's not just pavement and cement."

blewis@theprovince.com

The tide has turned against freeway expansion. But that does not mean that the provincial government won't arrogantly plow ahead with cutting everything down to the last school band program to fund a $2 billion gift to property speculators and car dealers. This is the time to get out and put an end to any idea they have that the South Fraser Freeway could be built without a major political cost.

A week of action to halt the Gateway megaproject and create a green and just future for our region.

As the post-Olympic financial crunch sets in, the billions earmarked for freeway and port expansion on BC's coast must be diverted to badly needed services like transit, housing, and healthcare. By canceling the proposed $2 billion South Fraser Freeway alone, we could reverse all the cuts in the March budget and set new priorities in motion.

SUNDAY APRIL 18: BUILD THE WITNESS TRAIL
Start the week by helping Surrey Environmental Partners and the Wilderness Committee complete the South Fraser Witness Trail, in the path of the proposed “South Fraser Perimeter Road”. 11am @ C74 bus stop, 168 St & 108 Ave, Surrey (edoherty at uniserve.com)[PS - We will wait for people who are on the C74 bus that arrives at about 11:10 am]

WEDNESDAY APRIL 21: EARTH EVE FILM NIGHT
Join the Delta/Richmond Council of Canadians for a screening of Toxic Trespass, an award winning investigation of the effects of pollution on children. Plus seeds, sunflowers, CFL bulbs and organic goodies for you! 7pm @ Ladner Library, 4683 51 St, Delta (604-946-0877)

THURSDAY APRIL 22: MOTHER EARTH DAY HIKE
The U.N. has declared April 22 Mother Earth Day. As the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth concludes in Bolivia, join the Wilderness Committee and Surrey Environmental Partners at our own climate ground zero: the South Fraser Witness Trail. 2pm @ C74 bus stop, 168 St & 108 Ave, Surrey (www.wildernesscommittee.org/bend)

SUNDAY APRIL 25: PILGRIMAGE TO BURNS BOG
A multi-faith event to discover and witness Burns Bog, a giant carbon sink in Delta under threat from the South Fraser Perimeter Road. All are welcome on this sacred journey. 1:30 pm @ 640 Chester Road, Annacis Island, Delta (www.pilgrimage2burnsbog.org)

MONDAY APRIL 26: STREAMS OF JUSTICE FORUM
Eric Doherty of GatewaySucks.org and Council of Canadians regional organizer Harjap Grewal will speak at a public forum on the struggle for environmental justice in BC. Hosted by Streams of Justice. 7 pm @ 1803 E. 1st Ave, Vancouver (www.streamsofjustice.org)

CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION
Earth Action Week is a great time to step up our involvement in the movement for Green Ways, Not Freeways. If you are interested in participating in a creative direct action with us during this week, please contact gwsux@riseup.net. Join the wave against the pave!

Earth Action Week is promoted by GATEWAYSUCKS.ORG and the COUNCIL OF CANADIANS (Delta/Richmond chapter - contact cathwi@telus.net)

The image above shows a short summary of the state of world shipping, in crisis and declining. And now as Charlie Smith discusses below, oil prices are again soaring "oil prices have only surpassed this level on an inflation-adjusted basis three times before: 1980, 1981, and 2008."

What a great time to blow billions on freeways while cutting things like chronic pain clinics, school music programs, and public transit!

But others are noticing that the the age of cheap oil is over. I have pasted a Guardian article about the US military's take on the near term prospects for oil supply and prices below as well.

Forget rear view mirrors, if Campbell does not have his head completely up his rear orifice the South Fraser Freeway will be delayed and then canceled.

Trade drives provincial policies, but is Gordon Campbell looking in rear-view mirror?
By Charlie Smith

[snip]

The B.C. Liberal government has tried to position our province to be the beneficiary of growing transoceanic trade.

Part of this strategy is the Gateway Program, which is an unprecedented, multibillion-dollar road-building exercise that includes a new Port Mann Bridge, a widening of Highway 1, and a South Fraser Perimeter Road.

Agricultural land is being sacrificed for pavement and to create space for containers coming from China.

Metro Vancouver has previously reported the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure secured approximately 110 hectares of agricultural land for the South Fraser Perimeter Road and the Golden Ears Bridge projects.

According to the theory of comparative advantage, we can rely on people in other parts of the world to grow our food because they're better at this than we are. We'll just trade for more of it as we need it.

[snip]

But all might not be as well as it seems, particularly if oil prices continue rising. The current price of US $85 per barrel is relatively high on an inflation-adjusted basis.

As this chart indicates, oil prices have only surpassed this level on an inflation-adjusted basis three times before: 1980, 1981, and 2008.

The inflationary period in the early 1980s triggered the worst economic slowdown since the Second World War.

Everyone knows what happened to the world economy in 2008. International trade plummeted as a result.

It could happen again.

I'm beginning to wonder if the B.C. Liberal government and its cheerleaders in the media are looking in the rear-view mirror--and not to the future--when they promote policies like the HST that blindly assume that more international trade is inevitable.

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.

Full text at
http://www.straight.com/article-302419/vancouver/trade-drives-provincial-policies-gordon-campbell-looking-rearview-mirror

But don't worry, others are paid very well to worry for you:

US military warns oil output may dip causing massive shortages by 2015

• Shortfall could reach 10m barrels a day, report says
• Cost of crude oil is predicted to top $100 a barrel

The US military has warned that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact.

The energy crisis outlined in a Joint Operating Environment report from the US Joint Forces Command, comes as the price of petrol in Britain reaches record levels and the cost of crude is predicted to soon top $100 a barrel.

"By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day," says the report, which has a foreword by a senior commander, General James N Mattis.

It adds: "While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/11/peak-oil-production-supply

So who thinks that blowing billions to expand container shipping capacity is a wise investment today?