Reclaiming the New Westminster Waterfront

Home , New Westminster, Vancouver

Peter Hall, Simon Frasier University, Vancouver, B.C.

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Outline

• Port-cities and the problem of waterfront work

• New Westminster

• Reclaiming work on the waterfront

Vancouver ports’ 20 year container growth 3,000,000 10.0%

9.0% 2,500,000 8.0%

7.0% 2,000,000 6.0%

1,500,000 5.0%

4.0% 1,000,000 3.0%

2.0% 500,000 1.0%

- 0.0%

Vancouver Total TEU Vancouver share Linear (Vancouver share) Port-logistics employment in Metro Vancouver declined slightly and changed a lot between 1991 and 2006

1991 2006 12000

10000

8000

6000

4000

2000

0 Rail Water Truck Warehouse FTA New Westminster portion of Fraser River, British Columbia, Canada

Reclaiming the New Westminster Waterfront PDG Structure: Current and Potential Future Partners/Contributors

Unions: PARTNER: CMSG New Westminster PARTNER: ILWU Local 502 United Steel Museum and Teamsters Archives CUPE UFCW New Westminster: Labour NWDLC - Public Library PARTNER: - Planning Division ILWU Pensioners - Youth Committee Municipal Organization

Waterfront Employers: Fraser-Surrey Docks Steering Pacific Rim Stevedoring Committee Paddlewheeler River Tours COLLABORATORS: Valley Towing 5 International and Community Sea Link Marine Services Ad hoc Community Canadian Academics Fraser Shipyard & IC Involvement Group Southern Railway of B.C. Fraser River Pile & Dredge Academic MV. Edgewater Fortune Port Metro Vancouver

COLLABORATORS: NW community APPLICANT, 3 CO-APPLICANTS: Schools members SFU Urban Studies, History & Education

COLLABORATOR: COLLABORATOR: NW Secondary NW Home Learners Community: School Program Residents’ Associations Other: Chamber of Commerce Fraser River Discovery Center Hyack Festival Association Pacific Northwest Labour History Association Columbia Institute and Columbia Foundation New Westminster School District Real Estate Foundation of BC Activities • Year 1 (2012-13): • Website • Mapping the working waterfront • Oral history training and initial collection • Pilot projects in schools • Year 2 (2013-14): • Documenting local perspectives • Oral history collection and analysis • Curriculum development and testing • Public lectures by Canadian and International academics • Year 3 (2014-15): • Archiving • Museum exhibit and programming • Workshop, planning for future

http://www.sfu.ca/waterfront.html

Thank you!

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.