Delta Chamber of Commerce members, especially those affected directly or indirectly by waterways in the Ladner and Fraser River areas, there is a presentation to Delta Council on the evening of Monday, August 30, 2010. See the news release below and contact information to learn more.
News Release
August 16, 2010
General commercial and residential water lot users seek to organize; want effective representation with Port Authority
DELTA, BC – Residential water lot users, fishers, and business owners of small and medium sized companies that work on the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet need to get organized or risk losing their voice with Port Metro Vancouver, cautions Mike Owen, President of Mike’s Marine Services Ltd.
Owen is a member of the General Commercial User Group that collates input from residential and small and medium sized commercial port users, and communicates back to its members and to the Port Authority. They also submit names of nominees to the federal Minister of Transportation for consideration as appointees to the Port Authority’s Board of Directors.
“The general commercial users need to be well organized to engage the port authority, communicate their concerns, and provide nominees for consideration to the Board,” said Owen. “The large commercial users, like terminal and rail, clearly have a voice. The general commercial users are the most populous, yet lack effective organization, and that is hurting us.”
Owen is starting from scratch. He notes that following the merger of the former Vancouver Port Authority, the North Fraser Port Authority and Fraser River Port Authority into the creation of Port Metro Vancouver in 2008, the Port (PMV) ended up with myriad small and medium sized users spread along the port’s 600 kilometers of shoreline leaving Owen with no effective contact list or way to reach them.
Owen, along with others, represented general commercial group interests on the Fraser River for nine years, and now seeks to unify all of the users across the ports 600 kilometers of shoreline, including Burrard Inlet. “Now that there is a new merged port, if we want to be heard, have a say in port governance, or even be kept informed about what’s going on in the port that might affect our businesses or residences, it is incumbent upon us to get organized,” said Owen. “We can’t sit back and just hope someone will do it for us.”
“An annual meeting for the General Commercial User Group is in the works for this fall and we urge all those interested in attending to contact us so we can let them know when and where it will be held,” Owen stated.
All individual persons or small and medium sized companies working in the Port Metro Vancouver jurisdiction holding a water lot leaser or permit are urged to contact Owen by email at mikesmarine@dccnet.com or by fax at (604) 940-9747 to ensure their contact information is added to the group’s database.
For more information, contact:
Mike Owen
President, Mike’s Marine Services Ltd.
(604) 946-9747
mikesmarine@dccnet.com
To see the most recent support provided by the Delta Chamber of Commerce: >>click here>>