Voters in the upcoming provincial election have to say no to Christy Clark’s vanity bridge.
That was the message made loud and clear at a rally at Garry Point Park in Steveston Friday morning where George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project opponents gathered to denounce the $3.5-billion undertaking.
“I’m going to fight with my very last breath on Earth any statements by the government that the tunnel is no longer useful,” Doug Massey said to the roughly 60 in attendance.
Organized by Fraser Voices, the event, which featured several speakers, including well-known advocates against industrialization of the lower Fraser estuary, was held to spread the message that the 10-lane bridge is a financial “boondoggle.” They say it’s being built to accommodate the port and that Victoria is casting misinformation about a cheaper alternative to twin the tunnel.
Massey, the Tsawwassen resident whose father championed the tunnel that bears his name, disputed a number of government conclusions, including the claim the tunnel is at the end of its design life, noting that back in 2009 then transportation minister Kevin Falcon declared the tunnel was good for another 50 years.
“This government is blatantly misrepresenting the facts and misleading the public, and my family doesn’t want to associate its name to any part of this project. It’s nothing more than a Christy Clark vanity bridge,” said Massey.
Richmond Coun. Harold Steves said the government’s “lies go on and on” and that he’s never heard so many untruths about a project before. He noted the structure will open up Delta and Richmond farmland for industrialization.
Saying the province has been making baseless and uncited claims about the seismic dangers of the tunnel, Nicholas Wong, the independent candidate for Delta South, said seismic upgrades, including the one abandoned at the tunnel a few years ago, would be sufficient to protect the structure even in a severe shake.
Holding government reports with blacked out sections, Wong said he’s not opposed to a new crossing but it needs to be justified.
“I want a solution that is based on facts and has clear justification and they have not given that to us so far,” he said.
Jet fuel, coal and LNG usher in new industrial era for river
Saying there’s a crisis when it comes to the Fraser estuary and its sensitive habitat, biologist Otto Langer warned a new industrial era on the river, facilitated by the bridge, will completely wipe out the estuary in a few decades. He also said the federal government has let the citizens of B.C. down.
“The driving political agenda of the day is economic growth and jobs at almost any cost. Environmental protection is not emphasized and does not receive the same degree of consideration as it did some 20-30 years ago,” said Langer.
The jet fuel, LNG and coal that will soon be plying the waters, just off the park, are a result of BC Liberal policies that fail to adequately consider scientific evidence, but rather, only consider economic factors, argued Langer in front of a decidedly pro-NDP (or at least anti-BC Liberal) crowd.
Langer, a retired Department of Fisheries officer, said about 80 per cent of the Fraser River estuary marshes have been destroyed by dyking, dredging and development in the past century.
“We are in a crisis situation and in the past decade less has been done to protect this vital estuarine resource for the benefits of natural life in the river and use by our future generations,” said Langer.
He has also warned of potential fuel spills in the river at the now under-construction jet fuel facility near Riverport, which also did not have a federal review (unlike a similar project in the 1980s that was rejected, he noted).
