‘Really unique organization’: Arctic Gateway names new CEO

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This article was published 10/07/2024 (484 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Arctic Gateway Group is announcing the appointment of Chris Avery as its new chief executive officer.

Effective Monday, Avery replaces Michael Woelcke, who will retire in September.

Arctic Gateway is an Indigenous- and community-owned Manitoba company that owns and operates the Port of Churchill (Canada’s only deep-water Arctic access point connected to North America’s land transportation system) and Hudson Bay Railway (the sole year-round, land-based link to the south for many northern Manitoba communities).

Avery is looking forward to joining Arctic Gateway.

“It’s a great opportunity to be part of building a critical national infrastructure for Canada,” he said by phone Tuesday. “It’s a really unique organization and I’m excited to be part of it.”

Avery is no stranger to operating in the North. His professional experience includes 3 1/2 years as president and CEO of Canadian North, the country’s major northern and Arctic airline.

He has also held senior leadership positions as vice-president with WestJet.

The married father of three grew up on the northern end of Vancouver Island in Port McNeill. The town has a population of about 2,300 and relies heavily on the logging and tourism industries.

Avery recalls spending his summers taking tourists to watch killer whales and having the opportunity to visit remote communities accessible only by boat and air.

“There’s no lived experiences that are completely in parallel and everyone is unique, but I think having been able to visit some of the northern communities on the West Coast helps me understand the dependency on the services that organizations such as AGG provides,” he said.

In turn, Arctic Gateway is glad to have Avery on board, said Churchill Mayor Mike Spence, the company’s chairman.

Arctic Gateway received “a number of applicants” of which “a few” were shortlisted, according to Spence.

“We’re pretty excited to have Chris lead our management team,” he said. “There’s a lot to do and it’s a really exciting time.”

At the end of May, Arctic Gateway announced it had completed construction of the first new building at the Port of Churchill in decades (a mineral storage facility).

The building is currently receiving 20,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate from HudBay Minerals’ Lalor mine at Snow Lake. It will be loaded onto a ship next month for transport to a destination the company has not yet publicly disclosed.

In addition to the storage facility, AGG is making investments in capital upgrades this year along the Hudson Bay Railway line. These include 125,000 rail tie replacements, 800,000 feet of resurfacing, several crossing rehabilitations, turnout replacements and various bridge improvements.

Avery’s priorities will be to ensure Arctic Gateway’s self-sustainability, building upon the reliability and growth of the trade corridor and “making it a beacon for Indigenous economic reconciliation,” according to the company.

“The vision, strategy and plan for AGG has been well-established by our board, led by chairman Mike Spence and my predecessor, Michael Woelcke,” Avery said. “My role is to partner with the board and ownership to execute, evolve and accelerate what has been started.”

Spence stressed Arctic Gateway is re-establishing itself as an active and competitive trade corridor for Manitoba and Canada that will get its resources and goods to new markets.

In February, it was announced Manitoba and Ottawa are each investing $30 million into the rail line and port.

“We have received a lot of support from our province … in strengthening (and) developing this corridor,” Spence said. “It’s Manitoba’s time to shine.”

Woelcke will remain with Arctic Gateway through the leadership transition. He joined the company in September 2022, after retiring from a 30-year career at Via Rail Canada.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca