(Globe and Mail)
The federal and British
Columbia governments flatly rejected calls yesterday to intervene in the truckers protest at Vancouver ports, despite an outbreak of vandalism, threats and violence over the weekend.
"I think it
is time for the federal government to impose a period of time when everyone goes back to work" while recommendations are drawn up to resolve the dispute, Mike Bowman, vice-president of Pro-West
Transport said yesterday in an interview.
The two sides are expected to meet with Vince Ready, the government-appointed facilitator, later this week. But Mr. Bowman was not optimistic about the
outcome.
He said Mr. Ready will likely advise the government afterward that the two sides are so far apart that no end is in sight.
"I do not see the process moving along unless government is involved."
His appeal for intervention came a week after the Chamber of Shipping, which speaks for the international maritime
sector of Western Canada, urged Ottawa to recognize the protest as an "extraordinary disruption" and immediately impose measures to stabilize the national transportation system.
Earlier,
the chamber appealed to the provincial government to "take immediate action" to resolve the dispute.
"This dispute has gone on too long and it now can be considered to be an
extraordinary disruption," chamber president Rick Bryant stated in correspondence with federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre.
"The system is breaking down on a national level."
About 1,200 independent owner-operated truck drivers have refused to work since June 27, effectively bringing the transport of containers at Vancouver's ports to a crawl. About 200 truckers continue to
cross protest lines and haul containers. Also, rail cargo is still moving out of the ports.
The truckers are seeking an industry-wide deal with brokers to raise rates as a result mostly of soaring
fuel prices. The four-week-old protest turned violent late last week.
Eight trucks from Pro-West Transport were sprayed with bullets from an automatic weapon shortly after midnight on Friday. The
gunshots shattered windshields and left holes in truck radiators and side panels. The incident occurred shortly after the trucking firm was featured on local news reports hauling a container from a port
despite the protest.
Sergeant Ron Paysen said the RCMP have not found a direct link connecting the violence to the protest, but Mr. Bowman said it appears more than a coincidence.
Another
trucking firm reported windshields on its trucks had been smashed and a brick had been thrown through the bedroom window of the young son of a trucker who had hauled containers from the port. Another company
also reported that security personnel were held at gunpoint recently while others vandalized their trucks.
The incidents came a few weeks after violence first erupted on the protest line outside the
ports. The trucking companies subsequently obtained a court injunction enabling them to continue hauling containers.
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