Container port operator fails to get Delta to drop motion on funding port police

The company that runs Canada's largest container terminal wants Delta to withdraw its motion pushing for a special levy to fund policing

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Published Sep 10, 2024  •  3 minute read

The operator of Canada's largest container terminal, Deltaport (pictures above), is fighting a Delta proposal for a per container levy to fund policing of Canada's ports. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

Delta Mayor George Harvie says he’s upset by a last-minute attempt to scrap a resolution before next week’s Union of B.C. Municipalities convention that is designed to fund port police to tackle organized crime on the waterfront.

The resolution calls for support for “a shipping container levy as a funding mechanism to re-establish dedicated resources to police ports and waterfronts.”

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But at Delta Council on Monday, Councillor Dylan Kruger tried to get his colleagues to support a new motion to withdraw the UBCM resolution. He lost the vote 4-3.

Kruger’s motion followed a Sept. 4 letter to council from Deltaport operator Global Container Terminals, urging the withdrawal of the UBCM resolution.

The letter, signed by company vice-president Marko Dekovic, said any security enhancements should apply to all port terminals in the country handling all commodities and not just containers and Delta.

Harvie said Tuesday that it was inappropriate for the company to try to interfere “with the local government’s request at UBCM” to push for enhanced security to deal with infiltration by organized crime at B.C. ports. Delta commissioned a report last year that documented the problem.

“Right now, there’s nothing being done, and they’re trying to stop us from going ahead by trying to influence local government,” Harvie said. “I’m really upset about this.”

He said he will carry on trying to get mayors across the province to support his resolution next week.

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“It’s not just about the container levy, it’s about the whole issue,” he said.

Last year, eight tonnes of methamphetamine was seized outbound at Deltaport and destined for Australia. Incoming drugs and precursor chemicals are fuelling the fentanyl crisis, Harvie said.

“The whole issue is just receiving no attention from the provincial or federal governments,” he said. “Canada needs to get off its butt and set up a task force, or whatever they want to call it, just like they did with stolen cars.”

He said proposal for a $10 container levy to finance increased policing wouldn’t “ruin the company’s ability to attract business. That’s the cost of a pint of beer, for God’s sake.”

Kruger told Postmedia that he’s “not against advocating for additional security at our ports or even for enhanced port policing.”

He said his problem is with Delta being too specific in how to pay for the improved policing.

“A per container levy could have disastrous unintended consequences for trade in Canada,” he said.

He also said the ports are out of the jurisdiction of the municipality.

“People want local governments to focus on delivering basic core services in municipalities. We’re not elected as councillors to be the United Nations or to do the federal government’s job for them,” he said.

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Dekovic said the letter he sent to council is “self-explanatory.”

“We, of course, are 100 per cent supportive of increased resourcing for the responsible agencies. But what the mayor has proposed, and what that motion says, it appears to be simplistic in the approach,” he said.

Harvie has been lobbying over the last year for the re-establishment of some form of dedicated police force at the Port of Vancouver sites, including Deltaport — the largest container terminal in Canada.

The UBCM resolution notes that the federal Ports Canada Police was disbanded in 1997 and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority discontinued its financial contribution to the RCMP-led waterfront joint forces operation in 2015.

“This loss of police resources has weakened the security of Canada’s ports and allowed organized crime elements to proliferate,” the resolution says, making note of a Delta report done by retired RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German and former Vancouver Police deputy chief Doug LePard.

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