Thank you.
Good morning. My name is Don Krusel. I am the president and chief executive officer of the Prince Rupert Port Authority.
Firstly, we at the Port Authority want to recognize and congratulate the Government of Canada on the effectiveness of the targeted investments in the Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative to strengthen Canada’s competitive position in international trade. Together these activities have established a strong and positive reputation for Canada's Asia-Pacific gateways. With the continued shift of economic activity and world trade toward the Asia-Pacific region, this national strategy of facilitating trade between Canada and Asia will continue in its overwhelming importance to the Canadian economy. The Port of Prince Rupert has benefited from these investments and has increased its international profile, and it owes a great deal of its success to the collaborative activities of the Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative.
The $30 million investment by the Government of Canada in the Fairview container terminal in Prince Rupert has been a tremendous success and has created significant economic opportunity across western Canada. A picture is worth a thousand words in illustrating the phenomenal success of the new trade corridor gateway in Prince Rupert. The graph that has been handed out to you--and I hope all panel members have a copy--provides a startling picture of the dramatic increase in North American trade that has been achieved through the Port of Prince Rupert as a result of the Asia-Pacific gateway initiative investment in the container terminal in Prince Rupert. As the graph illustrates, during the first 30 years of existence and prior to the conversion to a container terminal in 2007, the Fairview terminal never handled more than 1.1 million tonnes of cargo in any given year. Last year, during its first full year as a new North American gateway container terminal, it handled 1.8 million tonnes, and this year it is expected to handle 2.5 million tonnes of cargo. That is a startling 127% increase over the previous best year and a 1,200% increase over just two years ago. When the new facility reaches capacity, expected within the next five years, an extra 4 million tonnes, or an increase of nearly 5,000%, will be flowing through that terminal.
These achievements have not gone unnoticed internationally and worldwide. Recent articles in the Journal of Commerce, a U.S.-based trade publication, have referenced comments from U.S. port officials about the success of Prince Rupert and the Asia-Pacific gateway. To quote the article:
[U.S.] port officials appear to be looking with envy at what has been done in Canada to lure North American importers to Prince Rupert. The [U.S.] West Coast port directors cited the effective effort of the Canadian federal, provincial and local governments, together with that country's Pacific ports and CN [Rail], to promote the Canadian gateway for trade with Asia.
The article goes on to describe how the U.S. west coast port authorities are lobbying their own federal government to provide the same level of economic and organizational support as is being provided here in Canada. While it is very flattering to be viewed as a role model for our U.S. counterparts, it is also a warning to us that we cannot be complacent and allow ourselves to lose any competitive advantage that we might have gained through the Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative.
We believe that the Government of Canada's Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative and measures for economic stimulus have been successful to date but can be more effective with continued support and future enhancements. I would like to highlight three for consideration by this committee: to provide new and additional funding for the Asia-Pacific; to provide greater access to federal economic stimulus; and to amend federal regulations to enhance the ability for federal ports to access venture capital.
However, I am not here today only to applaud past infrastructure investments made in the Prince Rupert gateway but to remind you that we are not yet finished building Canada's Pacific gateway. Thus we need continued support from the Government of Canada in completing this important task. The Port of Prince Rupert has a real and immediate opportunity to facilitate the development of new export capacities for bulk commodities targeting the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, the growing container traffic and terminal capacities are driving new opportunities for export and import logistics services such as container stuffing and reload, cold storage, transload, and short sea shipping opportunities.
In conclusion, we applaud the support and direct investment made by the Government of Canada, along with our partners in the Fairview container terminal. Together, we not only created a new gateway for trans-Pacific container trade but also have drawn the attention of the international shipping world and opened the door to a multitude of new investments and development opportunities.
Key to realizing the opportunity and unlocking the potential of the Prince Rupert gateway will be a strategic investment in infrastructure at the Port of Prince Rupert by the Government of Canada.
I thank you for your time and attention.