Dear Editor:
As a regional economic driver and with a North Shore workforce of more than 3,000 people, Seaspan is pleased to see the Metrotown-Park Royal Bus Rapid Transit project prioritized by TransLink’s Mayors’ Council.
With credit to North Shore Connects, the partnership between the three North Shore municipalities and the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, the case for prioritizing this line was clear and compelling.
With TransLink’s recent announcement that the Burrard Inlet BRT will be among the first three to be built, turning this from a priority on paper to a concrete initiative requires funding commitments from all three levels of government. To secure this funding, residents and employers must speak up. As members of this community, we all have a role to play in supporting this project and ensuring it moves forward.
For Seaspan, transportation is a key challenge for our two North Shore shipyards. Congestion has a major impact on businesses like ours that rely on a large skilled trades workforce that needs to be on-site to perform their work. Most of these employees live off the North Shore, and alleviating congestion will help people spend more time living and less time commuting.
We also know that commuting to North Vancouver has an impact on our ability to recruit and retain all types of professional employees in engineering, project management and finance, employees who have many choices when it comes to where they work. Improvements in transportation to and from the North Shore will help us be a competitive employer while easing the burden of long or uncertain commutes on working families.
At Seaspan Shipyards, we have worked hard to build a sustainable, competitive industry on the West Coast that is creating a new generation of shipbuilders and marine experts. Our workforce will be building world-class ships for all Canadians for the next 25-plus years. Providing safe, reliable and efficient access to North Vancouver will facilitate our mission.
I applaud the hard work it has taken to get this project to this stage. Now, I’m appealing to TransLink, the Province of B.C. and the Government of Canada to confirm the necessary funding to make this line a reality.
Brent Hale
CAO, Seaspan Shipyards
