Churchill gets a port in the storm

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This article was published 29/09/2016 (3329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains will deliver an economic lifeline to the Town of Churchill today, but is not yet prepared to commit the government to taking back ownership of the troubled port.

A new poll done for the Free Press by Probe Research shows two-thirds of Manitobans moderately or strongly support the idea that Ottawa resume ownership of the Port and the associated Hudson Bay Railway, but Bains wouldn’t say whether the government has looked at the possibility yet.

“We’re open to any ideas and suggestions that are made for both the short- and long-term viability of the port,” Bains said. “Right now we’re focused on what ideas do they have.”

Bains will travel to Churchill toting $4.6 million for immediate economic development programs in the town and the surrounding area, the Free Press has learned. His trip will include meetings in person and by teleconference with the town council, First Nations, the union, and other interested parties to discuss options for the port.

Omnitrax acquired both the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway from the federal government in the 1990s. It announced in July it would not operate the port this season because it was not commercially viable.

In an interview with the Free Press Thursday, Bains said his immediate attention is on the short-term challenges, followed by working with local leadership, unions and others on the long-term viability of the port and rail line. Omnitrax is not part of the discussions, and Bains did not hold back from criticizing the company for being disengaged in discussing the future.

“We have reached out to them, but I must confess they have not been very positive,” he said. “They haven’t really engaged. It is disappointing how they have conducted themselves in this process, so that’s why I’m dealing now directly with the northern delegation, and the different levels of government, both municipal and provincial.”

Bains said the money he is announcing Friday is “a byproduct of the conversations we have been having for weeks with people on the ground.

“We’re really concerned about this, we understand the importance of Churchill, not just to Manitoba but as part of our northern strategy as well.”

The Canadian Wheat Board was the primary user of the port, responsible for about 90 per cent of its shipments. Since the CWB single-seller system was dismantled in 2012 and the wheat board sold to a Saudi Arabian entity, shipments through the port plummetted, despite government subsidies to encourage its use.

The port is one of the main economic drivers in Churchill and was responsible for about 10 per cent of its jobs.

It found 67 per cent of Manitobans strongly or moderately support government ownership of the port and the railway. Support was higher in Winnipeg (71 per cent) than rural Manitoba (62 per cent) and among NDP supporters (85 per cent), and Liberals (77 per cent) than Tory supporters (56 per cent).

Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said he is eagerly anticipating Ottawa’s help and is looking forward to raising the idea of nationalizing the port when he meets with Bains Friday.

“A port of this significance in the north should reflect the government of Canada,” said Spence. “What’s really important here is this is Canada’s only arctic port.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada, the union representing port workers, also urged the government last week to take control of the port and make it another port authority.

John Higginbotham, head of the Arctic program at the Centre for International Governance Innovation at Carleton University, said a port authority is a legal instrument that can be used to push for new investments but it will not, by itself, save Churchill.

“It doesn’t guarantee you’re going to have anybody making those investments,” he said. “It’s just a mechanism that allows it.”

Higginbotham said with climate change extending the arctic shipping season every year, commercializing the Port of Churchill might make sense, but he said a major study needs to happen to look at the entire northern strategy, including Churchill, before any private investors might show interest.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca