The Fraser River Port Authority’s Board is comprised of seven Directors: four nominated by user groups and approved by the Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, one federal appointee, one provincial appointee, and one appointee chosen by the nine municipalities of Richmond, Delta, New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, Coquitlam, and Port Coquitlam that border the Port Authority’s jurisdiction.

Mr. Matthews was first nominated by Fraser River Port user groups and appointed by Order in Council to the Port’s Board of Directors for a three-year term beginning June 13, 2003. His responsibilities have included Chair of the Board’s Governance and Conduct Committee in addition to serving on the Human Resource and Compensation Committee.

Mr. Matthews has extensive experience in the design and implementation of transportation systems for pulp, paper, and other forest products.  For nearly a decade, he worked with Eurocan Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd. in Kitimat, BC, and for more than two decades with the former Canadian Forest Products Ltd. in Port Mellon, BC, now called Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Limited Partnership. He has also worked with the Worker’s Compensation Board of BC’s joint safety committees and employee assistance programs, as well as with the Waste Management Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada on fish preservation and enhancement, fresh water supplies, construction, and management. Mr. Matthews retired from the industry in 1999 to pursue a career in consulting.

Fraser River Port is Canada’s largest fresh water port and Canada’s largest automobile port, encompassing 270 kilometres of shoreline along the Fraser River from Langley to the Strait of Georgia. The Port generates 38,500 jobs in British Columbia and contributes $3.7 billion to Canada’s Gross Domestic Product.