Province, Ottawa talk about Churchill’s future

By: Kristin Annable Posted: 1:53 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 1, 2016

They talked about Churchill, but not about nationalizing the port.

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They talked about Churchill, but not about nationalizing the port.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/09/2016 (3320 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They talked about Churchill, but not about nationalizing the port.

Cliff Cullen, Manitoba’s minister of growth, enterprise and trade, spoke Wednesday with Navdeep Singh Bains, the federal minister of innovation, science and economic development about the future of the northern Manitoba outpost.

There have been calls from within the community of 800 and the Opposition benches at the legislature for Ottawa to take over Canada’s only deep-sea Arctic port after the current owner’s announcement of plans to shutter the facility and cut weekly rail service to a single train.

'There is another business case that could be made for the port.' says Cliff Cullen.

“That is something we haven’t talked about,” said Cullen, who offered no details on the conversation.

Cullen said Bains, who has taken the lead on the file for the Trudeau government, is on the “same page” as the province in his desire for a permanent, long-term solution.

“Omnitrax owns the asset at this time,” Cullen said. “We are optimistic there would be someone to come in and operate the facility, operate the line over the long term.”

Omnitrax Canada president Merv Tweed has said the railroad and port haven’t turned a profit since the company acquired the assets in 1997, when Canadian National Railway was prepared to abandon the so-called Bay Line.

“There are people that have come forward and say they may be interested… it may not be the same business that is going on at this point in time,” Cullen said. “There is another business case that could be made for the port.”