Sixty-nine containers of trash are coming to Vancouver from the Philippines, but no authority is able to tell CTV News Vancouver how much it will cost or when it is expected to arrive.
Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte has given Canada until Wednesday to get the containers out of two ports, and threatened to "declare war" on Canada if the garbage was not taken back.
More than 100 containers arrived in the Philippines in 2013 and 2014. They were labelled as plastics for recycling but actually contained trash. Sixty-nine containers remain and those will be shipped back but it is unclear how much it will cost, and when the containers will arrive in Vancouver.
So what happens when it gets here?
CTV News Vancouver reached out to Metro Vancouver, and Don Bradley - a spokesperson - said they couldn't comment.
"This matter is being handled through the diplomatic channels of the two countries, so it is not within our purview to comment in any form," they said in a statement.
Port Authority spokesperson, Danielle Jang said it isn't involved in the logistics of moving cargo, and that waste disposal falls under the federal government.
The provincial government also deferred to the federal Liberals on the matters.
Determining what’s in the heap is up to the federal government," Minister of Environment and Climate Change strategy George Heyman.
Heyman says all waste disposals in our province must be done in accordance to waste management plans approved by the province.
Meaning any facility accepting the trash needs to know what’s in it and would have to follow provincial guidelines.
Determining what’s in it, according to Heyman, falls under federal jurisdiction.
"We would expect that the federal government will have already determined what’s in the waste that they’re accepting before they reach agreements with individual dumps or facilities," said Heyman.
The federal ministry in charge of determining what happens next to the trash says arrangements are being finalized.
"The Government of Canada has made an offer to repatriate this Canadian waste and continues to be closely engaged with the Philippines to resolve the outstanding details, including legal and regulatory issues, to ensure the shipment’s return to Canada as quickly as possible," reads a statement from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
The trash might not arrive for quite some time.
According to the Canadian Press, Philippines customs officials say they're waiting on Canada's import permits.
"However, despite the Philippine government's readiness to re-export the wastes, the Canadian government informed that it might take weeks for them to arrange the necessary documents from their end and that they might not meet the May 15 deadline," Philippine Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero said in a statement.
Canada's delay on permits sparked a furious backlash from the government of the Philippines.
"The President expects the garbage to be seaborne by May 15," Philippine foreign secretary Teddy Locsin wrote on Twitter. "That expectation will be met or else."
