CHURCHILL, Man. — The Port of Churchill’s shipping season is now underway, but the northern port is facing a series of challenges.
The company that operates the facility is considering options for keeping it viable, especially as the end of a government subsidy looms.
In the past, the Manitoba port relied on the Canadian Wheat Board as its primary supplier of grain, but in 2012 the government ended the CWB’s monopoly.
Since then, the port has been receiving a five year, $25 million government subsidy, which will end in 2017.
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Merv Tweed, president of OmniTrax Canada, which operates the port, said he is appealing to various levels of government to continue the funding.
“They basically said we’ll think about it.”
OmniTrax has owned the port privately since 1997 and that’s why the government is reluctant to continue funding, Tweed said.
The company will make changes in order to continue funding, he said.
“It’s like we have a sore arm, and they just want to fix the sore arm instead of the body that goes with it. We just feel that we’re important enough to the north,” he said.
He said the port could open its books to the public if a partnership were to take place.
He said another idea may be to partner with First Nation governments.
The port hires mechanics, carpenters, millwrights and engineers, and if it works with band councillors, the port would be able to hire more people from those communities, he said.
But for now, the port is shipping new products, starting with lentils.
The port opted to ship pulses as opposed to other commodities because they are similar in nature to the grains they already handle, Tweed said.
“I think to diversify into much else, all we’re going to do is sacrifice one for the other,” he said.
Tweed said this year they will be shipping 75,000 tonnes of lentils, produced in northern Saskatchewan.
A much-discussed challenge for the port and the rail line that links it to the south is the northern climate. However, much of the repair costs to the track don’t come from the cold, but rather warm weather.
A large stretch of the track runs over tundra. When the ground heats up it becomes soft.
“It’s a huge expense and it’s a continuous expense, even now.”
He said the port’s budget runs up to $5 million.
“And I always say we’re one grain accident away from $10 million. It can add up very quickly.”
This year the port is working with four shippers but will not disclose names. The first load set to leave the port was being filled with 36,000 tonnes of red spring wheat from Richardson International yesterday.
The port has a grain moving budget of 500,000 tonnes. Tweed said they may not meet that goal, but will likely exceed 400,000.
Transportation to and from the Port of Churchill for this article was provided by the Hudson Bay Port Co.
