Sask. seeking to limit fees on exports going through Port of Vancouver

Saskatchewan is heading to court to get involved in a case based in B.C.

In a media release Tuesday, the provincial government said it was joining Manitoba in seeking leave in Federal Court to intervene in a judicial review of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s new gateway infrastructure fees.​

“As a province that depends heavily on exports, Saskatchewan wants to ensure that the full impact of new port fees on key sectors of our economy is taken into consideration,” Bronwyn Eyre, Saskatchewan’s justice minister and attorney general, said in the release.

“These fees could significantly increase costs for Saskatchewan goods moving through the Port of Vancouver and diminish Canada’s overall global competitiveness.”​

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s new fees took effect Jan. 1. The government said the fees range from eight to 40 cents per tonne for bulk, non-containerized cargo such as potash and grain — two of this province’s biggest exports.

Companies including Viterra Canada Inc. also want a judicial review of the decision.

Saskatchewan wants to be heard on what constitutes a fair and reasonable fee, pointing to a provision of the Canada Marine Act that requires the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Board to have representation from the prairie provinces. It also refers to the volume of Saskatchewan exports that go through the Port of Vancouver.​

“As a landlocked province, Saskatchewan relies on a fair and competitive transportation network to get our goods across Canada and around the world,” Highways Minister Jeremy Cockrill said in the release. “Our producers can compete with any in the world, as long as they are treated equitably.”​

According to the government, around 44 per cent of all Saskatchewan exports with a value of $12.2 billion went through the Port of Vancouver in 2020. That included more than $8 billion in agriculture and agri-food products and $2.9 billion in potash and potassium-based fertilizers.

Saskatchewan exports represented around 22 per cent of the collective metric tonnage of goods that went through the port in 2020.​

“Port of Vancouver is trying to impose new gateway infrastructure fees that in our view places an unfair and unnecessary burden on bulk terminal operators like grain,” Parrish & Heimbecker CEO John Heimbecker said in the release.

“Given that a significant portion of those costs will inevitably be borne by prairie grain farmers, it’s only right that the Government of Saskatchewan would intervene to protect their interests and we’re thankful to the premier and his ministers for doing just that with today’s announcement.”