Grain companies facing skyrocketing rent at the Port of Vancouver are seeking intervention from the Minister of Transport. The Western Grain Elevators Association has stated rent on federal property at the port went up 13 to 30 percent this year.
WGEA members believe their rent increases are paying for container-related projects at the port, noting that there is an inherent conflict of interest because the port is both a regulator and a developer and the grain companies are captive. Agriculture and transport ministers in the three prairie provinces have picked up on these concerns and written to both Garneau and federal agriculture minister Marie-Claude Bibeau asking for changes to the port’s board of directors.
