Farmers attending a recent Hudson Bay Route Association meeting were left with a sense of optimism, tempered by the realization that much work is needed for the port of Churchill to reach its potential.
Association president Arnold Grambo said in an interview after the meeting that representatives of industry, government and farm groups raised both positive and negative issues.
He said there is optimism that the port will be able to diversify and expand its current business, which is dominated by Canadian Wheat Board grain exports.
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Possible new ventures include more exports of non-CWB grain, imports of fertilizer from Russia and boosting services to northern Canada.
Grambo said the Churchill Gateway Development Corp. has done a good job informing potential shippers and customers about the advantages of the port.
Omnitrax’s appointment of Pat Avery as vice-president of energy and commodities, with a mandate to expand the port’s business, also has people excited.
“I think those two things have contributed to a real sense of optimism,” Grambo said.
On the other hand, there is great frustration among Churchill boosters that the federal government and Canadian National Railway aren’t doing enough to make the port work.
“There’s a lot of roadblocks that shouldn’t be there, but we’re working away at them,” Grambo said.
Those include the lack of an ice-class salvage tugboat, the lack of Coast Guard services and threats to producer car shipments.
Hudson Bay Route Association resolutions
Association members passed four policy resolutions during the meeting:
- That CN be required to open its Tisdale subdivision to grain traffic headed for Churchill or sell the line. Grain from the area is shipped to Churchill through Humboldt, Sask., and Canora, Sask.
- That all three levels of government launch an investigation into the true costs and savings associated with multi-car incentive rates. They cited a recent report by Travacon Research that concluded the railways use the incentives to reduce their revenue cap, enabling them to increase freight rates.”They’re bribing farmers with their own money,” Grambo said.
- That the federal government provide assistance to obtain an ice-class salvage tug for the port.The presence of a tug would provide greater assurance to insurance companies and shippers using the port and could help extend the shipping season.
“I would guess Churchill is the only ice-affected port in the world that doesn’t have an ice-class salvage tug,” Grambo said, adding that the benefits of such a vessel would far outweigh the costs.
- That the three prairie provincial governments set up new ministries to work together to represent the interests of northern Canada to the federal government.
