Posted Sep 6, 2009, 2:37 AM
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Provincial project threatens Delta bird habitat: MLA Huntington
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Provincial project threatens Delta bird habitat: MLA Huntington
By Andrew MacLeod September 3, 2009 02:25 pm
Indpendent MLA Vicki Huntington used her first speech in the British Columbia legislature to denounce the provincial government's destruction of migratory bird habitat in her constituency.
“There is nothing in the throne speech or the budget that recognizes a moral obligation to the flyway and the wildlife that depends on it,” she said, according to the Hansard transcript of the Sept. 3 speech that listed several reasons she believes voters chose her over Liberal incumbent Wally Oppal. “Without a healthy foreshore and without protected agricultural lands, we will destroy the habitat that supports that flyway.”
The biggest threat to agricultural land in Delta is the province's Gateway highway program that will destroy 1,000 acres, she said. “The finest soil in Canada will become a rail yard, a container-storage facility, a four-lane truck highway, an interchange, a commercial development and a container port.”
Asked about Huntington's comments, Environment Minister Barry Penner said, “The federal government has constitutional authority with respect to migratory birds because they cross boundaries.” He said he believed a Gateway environmental assessment had addressed bird habitat, but that he would have to check.
The Fraser delta is one of the four most important bird habitats in the world and has Canada's largest concentration of birds of prey, Huntington said in her speech.
“The [provincial] government likes to say that we have to balance the economy and the environment,” she said. “Well, Delta South is the balance. We are all that is left of the habitat that supports millions and millions of birds. But no one listens. Instead we build highways and container ports on the most precious land in the province. Where has our morality gone?”
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source: The Tyee
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The South Fraser perimeter road is part of the government's vaunted Gateway program, one of the job creation opportunities that will provide "additional stability and confidence." How much money could be transferred to other infrastructure projects if the Minister of Transportation did a cost-benefit analysis on altering the designated route?
Delta doesn't want to get rid of the highway. We simply want logic to prevail. How much money could be saved if the portion of the highway north of 99 used the existing and sufficient rights-of-way on Highways 99 and 91? Does the minister know? Do her officials? Have they even looked at the suggestion? After all, the municipality of Delta is building a parallel road to the SFPR through the industrial zone.
Do we really need two roads? Could we upgrade existing roads into the industrial area at a fraction of the cost? Will anyone listen to us before it's too late?
Does the minister know that her highway goes through red-listed habitat, that the little mammal found on the edge of Burns Bog was thought extinct, let alone at risk? That single fact brings chills to my soul when I contemplate the real reason for the announcement of a species-at-risk task force.
Does the minister know that 95 percent of the built heritage of North Delta is being impacted or destroyed by her highway, that the last forested bluff on the lower Fraser River and one of the oldest pioneer communities on the Fraser is being destroyed? There is an alternative, if anyone cares to listen.
There are so many reasons that Delta decided it could take no more from this government. Even a 30-minute speech can't do justice to the reasons Delta South feels so betrayed. Over 1,000 acres of Delta's agricultural land is disappearing with the Gateway program — 1,000 acres. The finest soil in Canada will become a rail yard, a container-storage facility, a four-lane truck highway, an interchange, a commercial development and a container port.
This is in a community that is all that remains of the migratory bird flyway on the Fraser delta — one of the four most important bird habitats in the world — a community that has Canada's largest concentration of birds of prey.
There is nothing in the throne speech or the budget that recognizes a moral obligation to the flyway and the wildlife that depends on it. Without a healthy foreshore and without protected agricultural lands, we will destroy the habitat that supports that flyway.
The government likes to say that we have to balance the economy and the environment. Well, Delta South is the balance. We are all that is left of the habitat that supports millions and millions of birds. But no one listens. Instead we build highways and container ports on the most precious land in the province. Where has our morality gone?
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source: HANSARD- Thursday, September 3, 2009, Morning (Vol. 1, No.11)
The Corporation of Delta is building a parallel road... Huntington does have a point here... maybe they could do something about it.... and btw the SFPR is awefully close to the Vancouver Landfill and runs through some prime agri land as mentioned by the MLA for Delta South
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I dont want the lions gate replaced, i just want it closed to vehicle traffic (let it become the world's flagship cycling, pedestrian & trams only bridge) but have a new 6 lane link (possibly at the foot of main street) built in its retirement.
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