The company in B.C. that runs Canada’s biggest container terminal is taking legal action against the federal government in order to keep five years of greenhouse gas emissions data private.
GCT Canada Limited Partnership states that the environment and climate change minister wants to release emissions data from the Deltaport facility south of Vancouver as part of the federal greenhouse gas reporting program.
According to the company, the data is a “trade secret,” and making it public would result in financial loss and damage its competitive position.
The company's application highlights ongoing negotiations with current and potential customers, who increasingly value sustainability, including greenhouse gas emissions from the container terminals they utilize.
GCT Canada argues that publishing its emissions data, while competitors' data remains private, would disrupt these negotiations.
The company provided the data for 2017 to 2022 to Environment and Climate Change Canada, but the ministry declined its request for confidentiality in February.
In the judicial review application, GCT Canada claims the ministry unfairly targets Deltaport, as no competitors are mandated to report emissions numbers.
The application states that making the greenhouse gas information public would make Deltaport the sole container terminal facility in Canada to do so.
The company fears its emissions data could be used by competitors, customers, and others to cause financial harm.
GCT Canada spokesman Marko Dekovic revealed that the government rejected the company's request for data confidentiality, leaving the judicial review as the only recourse.
Dekovic pointed out that GCT Canada couldn't find any other container terminal operator asked to provide emissions data for publication, potentially creating an impression of higher emissions without a basis for comparison.
“Since there’s no others, that information would be in a vacuum,” he said.
Dekovic mentioned that there is no set timeline for the court decision on the application.
The federal Environment Department deferred comment to Transport Canada, which is not mentioned in the judicial review application.
GCT Canada also manages the Vanterm container terminal in Vancouver.
