Churchill hub for ‘economy of the future’

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This article was published 23/02/2024 (600 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal and provincial governments laid further tracks for redevelopment of Churchill’s railway and port Friday with a $60-million funding announcement.

The investment is part of building “the economy of the future,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said during a news conference in Churchill, located some 1,000 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Delegates from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland were also in attendance. One goal of the investment is to, eventually, export critical minerals to international markets, officials said.

The Port of Churchill is Canada’s only deep-water Arctic access point connected to North America’s land transportation system.

The Hudson Bay Railway is the sole year-round, land-based route south for many northern Manitoba communities.

“For decades, Manitoba has just been a hub to let other provinces cash in on their investments, but now it’s our turn,” Kinew told the assembled crowd.

“Cashing in” means exporting low-carbon hydrogen via Manitoba Hydro and critical minerals found in the province, he added.

The premier later told the Free Press that Manitoba “definitely (does) have the ability” to support its own future hydrogen needs and export the fuel, adding building up hydrogen production is part of the province’s long-term economic development strategy.

The NDP government has mandated Hydro’s board to deliver a net-zero energy grid by 2035. The Crown corporation also carries debt of approximately $24 billion and, due to recent drought conditions, is forecasting a $190-million loss this fiscal year.

On Friday, it was announced Manitoba and Ottawa will each invest $30 million into finishing the Churchill rail line’s stabilization and starting port upgrades.

The trade hub was neglected for decades, said Mike Woelcke, CEO of Arctic Gateway Group.

Arctic Gateway took ownership of the facilities in 2018, following Denver-based company Omnitrax’s tenure. Forty-one First Nations and Bayline communities make up Arctic Gateway.

The new money will pay for Year 3 (the final year) of construction, bringing the railway up to standard with others in North America, officials said. The line runs from The Pas to Churchill.

Over the next few years, work will begin on the Port of Churchill, which requires basic infrastructure repairs such as upgrades to its wharf, Woelcke said.

Arctic Gateway is awaiting an economic analysis of the port. Woelcke anticipates the results to come late spring, which will lead to the development of a strategy, including an outline of exports and imports.

Meanwhile, Arctic Gateway is preparing to ship 20,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate to Churchill from a Snow Lake mine this summer.

It’s beginning twice-weekly freight service in the spring, and expects to welcome more cruise ships in 2024 (one arrived in town last year).

Arctic Gateway will decide what commodities move through the port, Kinew emphasized.

“It’s critical that decisions made in northern Manitoba, (that) the vision comes from northern Manitoba,” said Churchill Mayor Mike Spence, chairman of Arctic Gateway. “We will decide and we will partner.”

Group members discussed potential trade with Nordic attendees Friday.

The rail line and port have drawn shipping interest from grain producers in The Pas and Saskatchewan, Kinew noted.

“This is part of the path to making Manitoba a ‘have’ province.”

If new critical mineral mining operations come online, Manitoba develops a hydrogen ecosystem and the province can export commodities through Churchill, the return on investment will be measured in the billions, the premier said.

“The significance of the Port of Churchill is only going to grow with climate change, with the unstable political economic world that we live in,” said Liberal MP Dan Vandal, minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada.

Spence estimated the $60 million will result in 60 to 70 jobs. Arctic Gateway Group said it will search for more funding as the port develops.

It already has a strong trade relationship with Nunavut. Resupply shipments of goods to the territory grew 166 per cent from 2021 to 2023, Woelcke said.

Canadian National Railway owned the northern line until 1997; the route was then acquired by Omnitrax.

The line runs through boggy land. Omnitrax paused rail activity for more than a year due to flood damage and washed-out bridges in 2017, leaving Churchill isolated.

In 2018, Ottawa promised to repair the railway. Before Friday, the federal government had invested at least $157 million. It jointly slated another $147 million, alongside the province, for further upgrades in 2022.

Vandal calls the railway “the backbone of northern Manitoba.”

It’s crucial for local food security and the general well-being of 29,000 northern Manitoba residents, the province noted.

Woelcke further hinted at “more good things” to be announced in the coming months.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com