Richmond’s newest MP is confident a meeting next week between the federal and provincial Liberal parties will answer his questions about the $3.5 billion toll bridge, set to replace the Massey Tunnel.
Joe Peschisolido, who was elected to the new Steveston-Richmond East seat last October, said he has concerns for the environmental footprint of the ten-lane, 3.5-kilometre span, construction of which is due to begin in 2017 and finish in 2022.
One of the pre- and post-election pledges Peschisolido and the Trudeau government made was to strengthen the federal environmental review process, which has been widely regarded as being watered down and weakened during former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s reign.
Peschisolido has been told that the federal environment ministry is now fully focused on following through with that promise and expects to see some action within the next month or two.
However, the Steveston-Richmond East MP wants to wait until he’s spoken personally to the man at the forefront of the project — B.C. transport minister Todd Stone — and counterparts across the river in Delta before making his opinions public.
“I haven’t been involved in any discussion as yet, either with Todd Stone or anyone else, and I haven’t even seen the full project (description) yet,” said Peschisolido on Monday.
“I plan to sit down with (Richmond) MLAs John Yap and Linda Reid to discuss the issue and there is a meeting next Monday (between the caucuses), of which I will be a part of. I’m sure at that meeting we will be talking about the Massey Tunnel project.”
Peschisolido said he’s standing by his pre-election pledge to bolster the federal environmental review process, which, as it stands, is a “harmonized” operation, run primarily, in this province, by the government’s B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (BCEAO).
“The (federal environment) ministry has been pre-occupied with the talk in Paris until recently. But we will very soon be getting down to it and we will be looking at existing projects and how our (new) proposals will apply to these projects,” he added.
Whether any such revamp of the environmental review process arrives in time to affect the “Massey Bridge” remains to be seen, as environmental studies for the project have been underway since 2014.
And, according to the “project definition report,” there are plans to submit an environmental assessment application to the BCEAO early this year.
The third and final phase of public consultation on the project is now underway and runs to Jan. 28. More details on how to participate are available online at masseytunnel.ca.
Once public consultation is over, the B.C. government will submit the project application for environmental review, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
In terms of funding the bridge, Peschisolido said the federal government, as far as he’s aware, has not had any conversations with the B.C. government with regard to possible funding models.
The City of Richmond was conspicuous by its absence at last month’s project unveiling — in Richmond — which featured, along with Stone, an MP and mayor from across the river in Delta.
Richmond’s mayor, Malcolm Brodie, has been critical of the project from the outset, but was bemused by the apparent snub.
Asked this week why the City of Richmond wasn’t invited, a ministry spokesperson would only say that the city was given an “in-depth technical briefing” of the project two weeks prior to the announcement last month.
Stone told the News last month that, with regard to concerns over the loss of farmland in Richmond from the bridge building, there would actually be a “net gain” to farmland in the city.
However, when the News asked where these gains would come from, the ministry was unable to give specifics at this time.
Richmond’s Otto Langer, a former Department of Fisheries and Oceans scientist and critic of the current environmental review process, previously listed a five-point plan for strengthening federal environmental reviews:
1. Restore habitat protection provisions in the Fisheries Act.
2. Upgrade habitat enforcement capabilities for DFO staff.
3. Restore the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to facilitate more scientific review and public input.
4. Remove PMV from any authority to conduct environmental reviews
5. Develop a national energy policy focused on fossil fuel divestment.
The Massey Bridge, when built, will be the biggest of its kind in B.C.’s history.
After not being invited to the unveiling, Brodie said he still has many unanswered questions about the project, namely concern over northbound traffic backing up even more at the Oak Street Bridge and tolling of the new bridge leading to more congestion on Highway 91 and on the Alex Fraser Bridge.
Brodie also questioned how the bridge project became the province’s top project, “rather than fixing public transit across the region.”
Although the toll rate is still to be determined, Stone said it would be comparable with the Port Mann Bridge pricing, which is $3.15 per crossing.
