One of Delta’s best known opponents of the Port of Vancouver’s major expansion plan for Roberts Bank is raising the alarm about the ability for residents to have their say on the proposal.

Against Port Expansion’s Roger Emsley has written to a federal environmental review board demanding a more adequate time for people to register at a public hearing on the Terminal 2 proposal, a hearing that’s slated to begin May 14 in Delta, although exact times and locations have yet to be announced.

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“My major concern was then and is now that you have done very little to inform the general public, especially local residents. For the first time today you have an advertisement in the local paper for Delta - the Delta Optimist - announcing the public hearings. However any citizens wishing to participate only have seven days to register. This is an abuse of due process,” Emsley wrote last week.

The panel notes that if a member of the public has an interest in the project, they may participate at the hearing by filing a written submission or making an oral statement. Anyone who wishes to participate at the hearing must register as a participant by this Friday, March 22.

“Many citizens - not only in Delta but also throughout the region and in the Gulf Islands - have major concerns about this port expansion. Yet the vast majority will have no idea that in order to voice their concerns at the public hearing they must register by March 22 - almost two months before the hearings are to start,” Emsley complained.

“You have set aside a week for general hearing sessions to be held here in Delta and yet up to now you have kept it a deep dark secret. Only those people that have specifically expressed an interest in RBT2 and registered to receive email updates will be aware.

“This is totally unsatisfactory. If RBT2 gets built it will have a huge impact not only in Delta but also throughout the Lower Mainland and in the Gulf Islands… Not only that but your registration process is difficult and has technical issues.”

Saying the manner in which the public has been informed does not live up to the mandate of public consultation, Emsley is calling on the panel to make a few changes. Those changes would include extending the registration deadline to April 5 at the earliest, extending the deadline for written submissions to April 30, providing an alternative process for registration, such as a 1-800 phone number, and publicize the hearings widely in newspapers and other media outlets throughout the Lower Mainland and Gulf Islands.

The hearing will be open to the public to observe in person or via a live webcast and/or audio-cast.

Detailed information on how to request to participate and what should be included in a request is available at https://ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/evaluations/document/126873?culture=en-CA.