Author: Calyn Shaw

Port Metro Vancouver is on a mission to make Vancouver’s port more sustainable. They have made the cruise industry one of their focal points, but visitors are hard pressed to see a lot of sustainable practices.

On the last weekend of the summer, the busiest cruise day of the season, visitors and locals flooded the cruise terminal at Canada Place. People disembarked after their cruises to Alaska. They looked relaxed and content from a week at sea. Many stayed close to the terminal, filled coffee shops and bought souvenirs. Some wandered the upper level of terminal. They snapped pictures of the boat they had just departed and waved to the new passengers getting set to leave.

Down at water level Holland America’s Zuiderdam was plugged into the terminal’s shore power system. Shore power is one of the key sustainability initiatives by Port Metro Vancouver. It allows ships to plug into a power supply at the terminal so the diesel engines can be shut off while in port. Shore power was implemented in 2009 in partnership with Princess Cruise lines, Holland America, B.C. Hydro, the Province of B.C. and the Government of Canada. Canada Place is one of only three ports of call in North America using shore power. Unfortunately, the cruise ships require a retrofit to be able to use the system so the system is in limited use. 58 shore power connections were made in the 2010 cruise season.

There were seven cruise ships in and out of Vancouver’s harbour on the busiest cruise weekend of the year and the Zuiderdam was the only ship to use shore power.

This is where the contradictions in the port begin. Port Metro Vancouver can point to their sustainable achievements: shore power, participation in the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy and the Globe 2010 ecoFreight Award for Sustainable Transportation. But closer inspection reveals a sadder reality. At the moment all the sustainability initiatives are overshadowed by the larger environmental impacts of the port system.

While onlookers waved and smiled as the ships departed Sunday afternoon another oil tanker sailed out of the harbour. The oil tanker is one of approximately 100 that will leave Vancouver’s port over the next 12 months full of oil destined for Asia. The footprint associated with all that oil far outweighs the use of shore power as an environmental protection.

Everyone who mingled about Sunday afternoon ignored the ship’s smoke stacks that billowed thick black smog in the air. They discussed the beautiful ships and the amazing scenery of Vancouver’s inner harbour while neglecting to notice the sulfur piles and toxic chemical terminals across the water. All they saw was a beautiful ship in a beautiful harbour, the environmental impact of that 82,000 ton, 300 metre long, 1,900 passenger ship made very little impact on their psyche.

The Wild Bird Trust at Maplewood Flat provides an important wildlife refuge. The 40 hectares of trees, fields, ponds and marshes stand in juxtaposition to the concrete and steal which dominate most of the port of Vancouver.

The Maplewood Conservation Area in North Vancouver is the last undeveloped waterfront wetland on the north shore of Burrard Inlet. The land is owned by Port Metro Vancouver but was leased in 1992 for 49 years to the Wild Bird Trust.

Friendly volunteers greet guests at the modest hut that serves as both an office and an information centre. On Saturday Linda Smith manned her post. She walked out wearing a grandmother-like warm smile. Behind her was a large sign warning of bears and cougars. “Oh don’t worry that is up all the time, there hasn’t been a bear here all year,” said Smith.

The sanctuary runs on volunteer effort. There is one employee, Ernie Kennedy, serving as conservation manager. Kennedy has worked for the WBT for 11 years. He oversees the dozens of volunteers and works closely with the Board to ensure the sanctuary’s maintenance.

Kennedy strolled up the path looking like a park ranger. He wore khaki everything on Saturday afternoon accompanied by well-worn boots and a sturdy handshake. He confirmed Smith’s assurance about bears with a slight qualifier. “Well none have been sighted yet, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t roaming around.”

But even in the absence of bears and cougars there is still a lot of wildlife running around. Kennedy has seen deer, river otter and coyotes at the sanctuary, and every year more arrive. This year there were six new fawns, three baby river otters and a handful of coyote pups. With all the wildlife running around the amateur naturist could be forgiven for forgetting to look up, but the keen bird watchers at the sanctuary enjoy hunting for a glimpse of some of the 280 different species found at the sanctuary.

The list of birds spotted hangs on a large board on the wall of the info centre. The highlights according to Kennedy are the purple martins, which likely migrate from Brazil’s Amazon, and the Osprey that return every year from the Central America.

The sanctuary was quiet Saturday afternoon. Sandy Girardot came for a quiet walk in the late afternoon sun. Girardot is an amateur birdwatcher but a regular at the WBT. “Don’t tell too many people about this place,” said Girardot with a rye smile. “It is perfectly quiet, it would be a shame if word got out.

She strolled slowly, her binoculars draped around her neck. She stared in the trees above hunting for a glimpse of something rare. She hadn’t found anything more than a few chickadees, but was hopeful her persistence would pay off.

Most people don’t think about how their car gets from an overseas manufacturing plant to their local dealership. In the case of asian import cars shipped to Canada they all come through two terminals on the Fraser River. One of those, Fraser Wharves, is the port of entry for every Toyota, Mazda and Suzuki built in Japan and Korea.

Storing, upgrading and shipping thousands of cars could be chaos. The Fraser Wharves operations team has turned a logistical nightmare into a smooth operation despite having to coordinate multiple actors including the shipping companies, longshoremen, Canadian Customs, CN Rail, the car companies and their own 140 employees.

Operations Manager, Jerry Duncan, and Assistant Manager, Daniel Mosquera make sure Fraser Wharves run smoothly, even when there isn’t a ship to unload.

The dock sat empty on a wet Friday morning last week, but workers shunted cars all over the lot. Cars and trucks in a variety of colours and models were sorted by destination. The hoods still adored with white protective wrap were scrawled on with black, red and green marker. City names and lot codes were on every vehicle. The cars ready to go were moved into the correct line and then driven on the train. Other vehicles requiring upgrades were sent to the shop for alterations. A handful of workers raced around installing leather seats, roof racks and new stereos.

80 per cent of the cars through the terminal are loaded on rail cars and sent across the country. Currently the CN track carries the trains on a long loop through Richmond, but this may change soon.

Terminal operations are tied to plans by CN to build a new spur line running parallel to the south arm of the Fraser River, from No. 9 Road to Fraser Wharves. There is some controversy about the location of the new route, as it will run directly beside the new Waterstone Pier condominiums. Mosquera acknowledged the controversy but said CN’s decision was independent of Fraser Wharves. As CN’s main customer is Richmond it is hard to believe that Fraser Wharves wouldn’t play a role in making the final decision about the location for the new track.

Security is another major issue for Duncan and Mosquera. The thousands of cars covering multiple lots are a significant target for theft and vandalism. The keys remain in the cars to make moving them at anytime easier, so concrete barriers had to be installed around the perimeter. This hasn’t stopped the odd thief from trying, but Mosquera made it clear that successful theft is very rare. Most people that break in are kids trying to get a closer look at the cool new model before their friends.

Sometimes even the best security and most efficient operations aren’t enough to protect all the cars. A couple months ago a beaver living in a pond adjacent to one of the lots fell a tree that crashed through the perimeter fence and crushed a Toyota.

Situated between Canada Place and the Centerm Terminal at Centennial Pier sits Crab Park at Portside. This piece of beachfront with an interesting history provides locals with rare public waterfront access along the south shore of Burrard Inlet.

On Sunday afternoon Crab Park was visited by an array of locals looking to soak up the last of the summer sun. A young couple let their black Labrador off his leash. He raced across the dog park to a group of children happily playing. On the other side of the field an impromptu soccer game amongst a group of twenty-somethings kicked off. An elderly gentleman explored the shoreline. He settled on a location and set his line. Crab Park is a dubious fishing ground and after an hour the old man had nothing to show for his efforts.

Crab park offers a little bit of everything to anyone lucky enough to find it. It is fitting that luck would bring people here since the early inhabitants of Burrard Inlet knew the location originally as Luckylucky, the Native phrase for Grove of Beautiful Trees. In the early 1980s, a group called Create a Real Available Beach, or CRAB, led by Downtown Eastside activist Don Larson, lobbied for the creation of the idyllic waterfront park, which was finally opened in 1986. It wasn’t until 2004 that the name was officially changed to CRAB Park at Portside.

Not many people come to the park, those that do cross the bridge at the north end of Main Street. On Sunday afternoon as the sun set a mild age couple strolled across the bridge and stopped to read the plaque dedicated to the “On to Ottawa Trek.” On June 3, 1935, in the middle of the Great Depression, the location was the starting point of a worker movement that would eventually contribute to the downfall of Prime Minister R.B. Bennett’s Conservative Government.

The park retains a strong connection to the community. A large boulder rests along the edge of the path beside the beach. It is a memorial to the women murdered in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. It was dedicated on July 29, 1997. Fresh flowers and handwritten notes are still left around the base of the memorial. The inscription makes special mention of the “native aboriginal women,” who were the primary demographic of the murdered women. The memorial is a sobering landmark and a reminder that not far from the park is Canada’s most socially troubled postal code.

Crab Park users are worried their secret oasis will not last much longer. The rapid gentrification of Gastown, and the potential development of the adjacent land to the west of the park has led to plans for a pedestrian greenway, including an overpass above the CPR rail yards to connect the north end of Carrall Street with the sea wall and Crab Park. The once peaceful park will not be so quiet once the rest of Vancouver finds out about it.

It was a sad day in North Vancouver when the Versatile Pacific Shipyards shut down. The shipyard opened by the Wallace family in 1906 built 379 vessels before being closed in 1992. During its peak the shipyard was the largest in BC and a vital part of the local community. Workers applied their trade building tugs and barges for the lumber industry, supply ships for both World Wars, ferries for BC’s coastal waters, and icebreakers for Canada’s Arctic. Renamed first in 1921 the Wallace Shipyard became the Burrard Dry Dock Company; then in 1985 became the Versatile Pacific Shipyards. The old shipyard has now been transformed into the Shipyard Historic Precinct. It sits half developed, a prime piece of waterfront real estate awaiting urban gentrification. The development of the area was stalled when the provincial government pulled funding from a proposed National Maritime Centre. Now local residents are unsure what their community will look like in the next five years.

Currently the Shipyard Historic Precinct contains the Pinnacle Hotel, Atrium Condos (with three more condo buildings planned), Shipbuilder Square, and 71,000 sq. ft. of waiting space. At the north end, propped up on a huge cement stand, sits the 80 ft. tall stern of the HMS Flamborough Head. Covered in white tarps it waits to be integrated into the new development. The stern section was to be used as the entrance to the National Maritime Centre before plans for the Centre were cancelled.

Surrounding Shipbuilder Square sit many of the old shipyard buildings, which are beautifully refurbished but remain empty. An old crane looms above. Moved and freshly painted in its original yellow, it stands in contrast to its rusting contemporaries still in use next-door at the Vancouver Drydock. The businesses that will move into the space remain a mystery and local residents like, Arlene Simpson, are getting frustrated that plans to complete the area’s development have stalled.

Simpson, who lives across the street from the stern of the HMS Flamborough Head, moved to lower Lonsdale with her husband five years ago. She has witnessed first hand the development of the old shipyard and now enjoys taking walks along the seawall and pier to snap pictures of the changing area and the passing cruise ships in the inner harbour. She was excited about the development of the Shipyard Historic Precinct including the National Maritime Centre. The provincial government’s decision to cancel promised financial contributions frustrates Arlene, as does the municipal government’s inability to approve a suitable alternative. “We were told that we would have this great place in the community and that all these buildings would be used for a market like Granville Island,” she said.

Local residents are growing impatient with the lack of progress. Many of them sit around the beautiful refurbished seawall and stare into the empty buildings. A new digital clock beside one of the buildings remains the only indication that any progress is being made.