Nutrien’s recent decision to ship its product through Washington State rather than use any West Coast Canadian port should worry all of us.
Companies don’t usually abandon one of the world’s most advanced port regions unless they’ve run out of confidence that goods will move reliably. And for those of us who live on the North Shore, the reason feels painfully familiar: our connections to the rest of the region simply don’t work the way they need to.
Anyone who depends on the Ironworkers or Lions Gate bridges knows how fragile our transportation network has become. A single stalled vehicle can paralyze the entire North Shore. Families build extra time into every appointment. I’ve taken my daughter out of a music class in North Vancouver because it was taking 40 minutes to get there after school. Some days I can get to my downtown office in 20 minutes.
Other days, it’s 40 minutes (or more). Businesses try to plan around a system that has no predictability. Emergency services are regularly delayed, and transit struggles in the same traffic as everyone else. This isn’t just congestion anymore — it’s a system that has reached its limits. And no number of bike lanes will solve the critical volume issue.
For years, residents, planners, and local leaders have been asking for a real strategy that reflects how important the North Shore is to B.C.’s economy. Instead, we’ve watched the Province commission studies, launch consultations, and then move ahead with other priorities. The recent push to extend SkyTrain to UBC — while the North Shore is still waiting for its first rapid-transit commitment — leaves many wondering whether decisions are being guided by political convenience rather than regional need.
The consequences are becoming visible. Nutrien chose reliability over geography. Other companies quietly route shipments through American ports. Housing targets become harder to meet because infrastructure can’t handle more people. Workers lose hours of their lives sitting in preventable traffic – if we can hire them at all. These aren’t abstract risks; they’re measurable losses.
If we want to keep B.C. competitive, the North Shore can’t continue to be treated as an afterthought. We need clear commitments: rapid transit that actually reaches this side of the inlet, a plan for improved crossings, better routes for industrial traffic, and cooperation between all levels of government — not just meetings that lead nowhere. And residents deserve timelines, not more paperwork.
Nutrien didn’t make its decision to make a point. It happened because our transportation network left them with no reliable option. If we ignore that message, more opportunities will slip away. The North Shore is ready for solutions. Now we need leadership willing to deliver them.
Karin Kirkpatrick is a former MLA for West Vancouver-Capilano and the leader of the CentreBC party.
And yet we continue to approve and build multiple units with no appreciable plans for traffic.
Having had to travel daily on the bus from Lynn Valley to LGH for a long period of time, to visit my husband in hospital , sometimes waiting in vain for a bus that did not arrive, because of snarled traffic, I agree with Karin Kirkpatrick. Its time to stop holding meeting after meeting , its time for action. Am I wrong in thinking the Upper Levels and the Ferry System are all supposed to be considered part of the Trans Canada Highway.
I also agree 100% with Karin. We are tired of all the flapping lips that do nothing once they stop flapping.
Our traffic also handles traffic from Nanaimo, the whole Sunshine Coast and the Sea to Sky highway which goes to Whistler and way beyond. When politicians deny the North Shore, they also deny the above mentioned people.
I have often heard that the NDP does not care for the people of the North Shore. Their actions bear this out.
I also agree with what karin Kirkpatrick
but am very concerned with the centre parties running s an independent in the last election.
In my view they contributed to the NDP forming the govt. by taking votes from the conservatives,
Of change is what is needed please do not fragment your vote .