Mayor Dianne Watts and the Surrey First team are calling on Port Metro Vancouver to approve a minimum of an additional 1.3 meters in dredging in the Fraser River, which will result in over 1,300 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars of economic activity.
“The Fraser River is a marine highway and we need to start treating it as such. Port Metro Vancouver, which includes
several facilities along the Fraser River, is responsible for 47,700 family supporting jobs and $2.2 billion economic
activity in the region,” says Mayor Watts. “For Surrey, the Port is responsible for 4,000 direct and indirect jobs and
$220 million in wages annually. With a minimum of 1.3 meter dredging required, important local businesses, like
Fraser Surrey Docks, will see significant expansion – up to 800 direct jobs, 500 direct trucking jobs and hundreds of
millions of dollars in increased economic activity. Our city cannot wait any longer for the Port to move forward and do
the dredging required to support the expansion of this industry. We are calling on Port Metro Vancouver to act now.”
Fraser Surrey Docks is the only regional port that has direct access to all major Northern American railways, truck
access via the south Fraser Perimeter road, centralized proximity to all the major industrial parks and direct access to
the second largest border crossing in the country.
“Fraser Surrey Docks is currently 70% underutilized,” says Surrey First Councillor and Vice-Chair of the Port Metro
Vancouver Board of Directors Linda Hepner. “Fraser Surrey has the potential to more than double its economic
activity and job growth over the next three years if Port Metro Vancouver continues ongoing maintenance dredging
and approves a minimum of an additional 1.3 meter of increased depth over the key sections of the Fraser River.
This needs to happen, and it needs to happen now.”
Surrey First is calling on the Port to move ahead immediately with the dredging and to develop a sustainable joint
funding formula with stakeholders, including the ports located along the waterway and the federal government.
About Surrey First: Surrey First is an independent, non-partisan team of people seeking positive change in Surrey. Surrey
First was founded in 2007 by Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and is made up of Mayor Watts and Councillors Tom Gill, Linda
Hepner, Mary Martin, Barinder Rasode, Barbara Steele, Judy Villeneuve, Marvin Hunt, as well as 2011 election candidate Bruce
Hayne.
To learn more about Surrey First please visit: http://surreyfirst.ca .