Ep. 423: Canada’s Gateway Port

Guest: Duncan Wilson, Port of Vancouver

Dock workers, truck drivers, forklift operators, tug boat deck hands, ships pilots, and crane operators rarely make the news.

In fact, the only time we hear about them is when, in rare cases, something stops working the way it does 99.9% of the time.

Duncan Wilson, the VP of Environment and External Affairs at the Port of Vancouver says, “These are the people whose work makes our lives work. They are the lifeblood of the country, the province, the region and our city and they are so good at their jobs that sometimes that gets forgotten.” While their work has an impact in Europe, Asia and North America, it is work that doesn’t sparkle the way high tech does, so it is easily overlooked.

Wilson says, “The Port of Vancouver is a shining jewel on the west coast of North America. No other port is as diversified nor has a gateway network like Vancouver.” The Port is so vital to Canada that it generates close to 1% of the national GDP. The Port employs more than 40,000 people and it is linked to more than 100,000 supply chain jobs.

We invited Duncan Wilson to join us for a Conversation that Matters about the role and value of our gateway port.