VANCOUVER - British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is calling on federal Transport Minister Lisa Raitt to get on a plane right away to resolve a truckers strike that is slowing exports out of Vancouver's port.
"Minister Raitt needs to come to Vancouver, sit down with the truckers and contribute to solving the issue" Clark said Thursday.
"This is an issue of national significance. If we could settle ourselves as a province, we would. We don't have the jurisdiction here. We have to rely on the federal government to do their bit and we urgently, urgently need them to step up and make sure that we get this port open again."
Earlier this week, unionized truckers parked their rigs to back pay demands and joined non-union truckers who walked off the job last month.
Agri-food industry groups say they are worried the dispute could spoil some shipments and hurt Canada's reputation as a reliable exporter.
Clark said federal and B.C. government officials met Wednesday night to come up with a set of proposals to present to the truckers.
She was adamant that most of the proposals deal with issues that are federal responsibilities since the port is federally regulated.
"We are strongly urging the truckers to sit down and look at the proposals and find a way to accept them."
Raitt was not immediately available for comment.
B.C. Transportation Minister Todd Stone warned that unless there is a quick resolution, the dispute will drive important business away from B.C. to the United States.
"The port is on its knees. We received word this morning that within 24 hours ships will begin to be diverted from the port of Vancouver and will be diverted to Seattle," Stone said in Victoria.
"This is going to strike a very significant blow to not just British Columbia's economy but the Canadian economy."
The strike at Canada's busiest port was the subject of meetings and conference calls Thursday at some boardrooms across the country.
Ron Davidson of the Canadian Meat Council said more than 543,000 tonnes of meat, poultry and fish were shipped through the port to customers around the world last year.
"Can you imagine if we can't get our containers through that port?" he asked from Ottawa.
"Basically all of our West Coast big markets — Japan and China and what we are hoping to do in Korea, Singapore, all of those Pacific countries. It's a big impact."
The council said there are more than 400 federally registered meat, poultry and egg facilities with annual sales of more than $24 billion.
Davidson said some exports are value-added, fresh-chilled products that must make it to markets within short time frames.
"It can't be sitting around because there are only a certain number of days it can be on the shelf," Davidson said.
Vancouver's port moves more than $170 billion worth of goods each year. Trucks transport about half the containers that move in and out of the port. The rest are moved by rail.
The striking truckers are not employed directly by the port. They are either independent contractors or sub-contractors working for trucking companies.
Gordon Bacon, CEO of Pulse Canada, said the dispute is already affecting the $2.77-billion-a-year pea, lentil, bean and chickpea industry.
"There is a disruption. It is not business as usual. It is having an impact and it is reason for concern," he said from Winnipeg.
"We all work to be seen as consistent reliable suppliers to export markets around the world. This undermines the reputation we are trying hard to build."
Pulse Canada represents growers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario as well as food processors in B.C., Ontario and Quebec.
Both the meat council and Pulse Canada said they want the dispute to be resolved quickly, but they have not asked the B.C. or federal governments to take any specific action.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Clark both said the truckers strike is a threat to the economy, but each leader said it was up to the other government to do something about it.
— By John Cotter in Edmonton
— With files from Jennifer Graham in Regina and Dirk Meissner in Victoria