Protesters take to Ladner streets voicing their opposition to port expansion
Chilly conditions and rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of a few hundred people protesting port expansion in South Delta on Saturday afternoon (June 16).
Banging pots and pans, chanting anti-port slogans and parading a 20-foot-long salmon puppet, the group marched down Ladner Trunk Rd. and through Ladner Village.
Cathy Wilander, a member of the Council of Canadians and protest organizer said the aim was to show the opposition to the possibility of farmland being used for port-related uses in the coming years.
Wilander said the options on farmland could see 558 acres used for industrial purposes.
In April, Delta South independent MLA VIcki Huntington released information about the options on the farmland and voiced her opposition to the proposed use for port-related activities.
“This is the industrialization of agriculture on a grand scale,” Huntington said at the time. “This is big money, big business and big government. There is no doubt these plans would greatly increase port capacity and efficiency. And in other circumstances the development would be extremely exciting. But this is the wrong place and the wrong land.”
Among those addressing the crowd Saturday was Tsawwassen First Nation member Bertha Williams who outlined the impact of the existing port on her community.
"The cost of the port has devastated our livelihood forever," Williams said. "What benefit is the port to my family but constant noise, coal dust, bright lights, truck traffic, continuous noise of trains. The problems seem to be endless."
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