Good morning, and thank you very much for allowing me the time to speak to you today.
The Prince Rupert port is approximately 600 kilometres north of Vancouver. That's important from a geographic perspective because it is the closest port in North America to Asia. I'm here to talk to you today about the partnership that the Port of Prince Rupert needs to have with the federal government under the Pacific Gateway strategy, led by Minister David Emerson, and the British Columbia government's British Columbia ports strategy.
Your mandate is all about Canada's competitiveness. We're a trading country, and Werner and his membership depend on transportation systems to be able to trade our exports with international customers, especially Asia.
The bottom line is that today approximately 2.2 million containers flow through the west coast of Canada. That is projected by our own estimates, by the Pacific Gateway strategy, to grow to 9 million containers by 2020. The Port of Vancouver, which is the main container gateway on the west coast right now, has plans to increase their capacity to around 5 million containers by 2020. This means that Canada will have a deficit of around 4 million containers in its ability to trade internationally by 2020 unless something is done about it.
We'd like to have that extra 4-million-container capacity built in Prince Rupert. Phase one of that plan is taking place right now, thanks to the generosity and financial support of the federal government, the provincial government, and the private sector. We are partway through the $17 million construction of phase one of a container facility to handle 500,000 containers. We are going to move directly into phase two and bring that capacity to 2 million containers by 2010, and then build a second terminal for another 2 million by 2013 to bridge that gap of 4 million.
This will cost approximately $1 billion between now and 2013. Of course, we are going to rely on the private sector, but there is a big role to play for the port authority here in Vancouver and the port authority in Prince Rupert. That's really what I'm here to talk to you about today.
I also want to mention that this isn't just about jobs on the waterfront or providing an export potential for the exporters and manufacturers of Canada. It will provide a general economic stimulus to the communities in northern B.C., Alberta, and right into Saskatchewan and Manitoba, equivalent to the impact of the 2010 Winter Olympics here in Vancouver.
As a port authority we need legislative change. The Canada Marine Act has been...for change for three years now. It handcuffs our ability to raise capital. Right now the Port of Prince Rupert, by the Canada Marine Act, by our letters patent, can only raise $22 million. We're talking about a $1 billion infrastructure improvement and we have a cap of $22 million. We need that lifted so we can go out into the markets and borrow much more than that. We know today that the financial markets would lend us much more than $22 million.
The second thing we would ask for is support for the amalgamation of federal assets in Prince Rupert, in the same way as it's happening here in Vancouver, where the three port authorities look to be amalgamated. There is a crown corporation in Prince Rupert called Ridley Terminals, Inc. It's a coal shipping facility owned by the federal government. We would like to see that amalgamated with the operations of the Port of Prince Rupert. It would provide the Port of Prince Rupert with funds that could be directed to this Pacific Gateway strategy initiative. It would also provide the Port of Prince Rupert with the leverage to borrow even more money in the public sector so we can fulfill this initiative.
Getting back to your mandate to measure Canada's competitiveness, we cannot be competitive in an international marketplace without the proper transportation infrastructure. We need to look at this very carefully. Give us the tools to build the infrastructure with the private sector so we can allow the manufacturers of Canada to access the world.
Thank you.