Photo: Delta Optimist

The City of Delta wants policing issues addressed before any consideration is given to expanding the ports at Roberts Bank.

Civic politicians discussed a staff report last week on the city’s submission to a federal environmental review panel outlining Delta’s concerns about the Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 2 proposal, including topics such as organized crime and drug smuggling. It notes Delta is one of the key gateways for the flow of illegal goods into Western Canada.

“Before any port expansion can be considered, there must be a solid commitment to increase resources and collaboration between the Canadian Border Services Agency and the terminal operators so that container inspection rates are not only maintained, but increased, as container throughput grows,” the report states.

The Ports Canada Police was disbanded in 1997, leaving municipal police to patrol docks and ports, provincial government money laundering investigator Peter German noted in his recent report. German warned the lack of a dedicated port police could be allowing large numbers of stolen vehicles to slip out of Canada.

A 2011 Public Safety Canada report concluded that Canada’s three largest ports – Vancouver, Montreal and Halifax – are the most vulnerable to inbound and outbound smuggling, citing container traffic volume as a key reason for the ports’ appeal to smugglers.

A 2017 Transport Canada internal report also warned corruption is widespread at the Port of Vancouver where unionized longshoremen include members of organized crime groups.

Four years ago, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority discontinued its financial contribution to the RCMP-led Waterfront Joint Forces Operation, a policing organization intended to fight crime on the waterfront.

“For many years, we were the only port in Canada to fund a federal policing agency. However, since policing is not core to our mandate, we decided it was more prudent to fund security measures that do fall within our mandate, and focus on complementing the activities of the police agencies,” the port authority explains.

During the discussion at the council table, Coun. Lois Jackson said, “I think it’s fallen through the cracks. I think the City of Delta, being the home of the port, have got to spend more time ensuring that our port facility, particularly, is a safe place which addresses the importation of any illegal goods.”