Port of BC terminal closed in pro-Palestinian protests

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DELTA, BC – A blockade by Palestinian protesters at a major port terminal in Metro Vancouver halted operations for several hours before breaking up on Monday.

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Terminal operator GCT Canada called the protesters' actions illegal and blocked Roberts Bank Road for several hours, stopping container trucks from entering the Deltaport facility.

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Photos and videos posted by protesters, who called the event a “people's picket for Palestine,” show demonstrators standing on the road blocking traffic, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “victory is at hand.”

“I'm here today to say that the Canadian government and Canadian companies like GCT Deltaport need to take a stand and refuse to do business with Israel,” protester Atiya Jaffar said.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada, and GCT Deltaport is the largest container terminal in the country, capable of handling 2.4 million standard 20-foot containers annually.

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GCT spokesman Marko Dekovic said the company was not notified in advance of the blockade and did not know why Deltaport was targeted.

“There are two other terminals in Burrard Inlet, DP World Centerm and GCT Vanterm, as well as DP World Fraser Surrey that are not blocked,” Dekovic said in a written response.

Dekovic said Monday's blockade “severely affected” the terminal's ability to operate at one point, but declined to discuss options for resuming the port because “it might give protesters other ideas to negatively impact operations.”

Trade and transport infrastructure experts say that such a blockade break, while inconvenient for truckers stuck at terminal gates, is unlikely to cause significant backlogs.

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“Containerized cargo is not perishable or valuable, so a one-day delay makes a difference,” said Peter Hall, professor of urban studies at Simon Fraser University. “The marking will have to take some time before it has a significant impact.”

Werner Antweiler, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, agreed that the impact of such a blockade should be limited, even though Deltaport saw about eight trains and 3,500 trucks come and go each day, based on a 2021 study.

But according to Antweiler, the big question may be whether there will be such breaks from protest blockades in the future.

“Some provinces like Alberta have passed laws to protect critical infrastructure, BC has not.” he said in his written answer.

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“Protest is a legal right, but blockade is not. If the protest is recognized as an illegal blockade that disturbs the peace, it can and must be abolished.”

The Delta Police Department previously said its officers were on the scene and working to restore the road to use.

Protesters said in a statement that the demonstration, coordinated with protests around the world, was aimed at preventing the “major chokepoints in the economy” from having the “greatest economic impact”.

Other protests on Monday were in Chicago, where Palestinian demonstrators blocked the highway leading to three terminals at the city's O'Hare International Airport, temporarily halting traffic at one of the world's busiest airports and causing headaches for travelers.

The BC protest contingent said more than 100 demonstrators took part in the blockade.

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