Transport Committee on Sept. 24th, 2018

[Scott Luey]

Through the chair, that's a good question.

I think there are two components to it. One component is the seaway itself in terms of marketing the land. I think the second component is funding. There are lands—and in fact the lands I refer to are the wharves or docks along the canal—where we just don't have the stability to put industry on that property because it needs to be refurbished or maintained. The physical strength, engineering-wise, isn't there.

I understand that the land has sort of fallen into a grey area where there is no funding. I don't know how the seaway's budget works. They don't have the funding to go in and fix that on spec in order to attract a business. It doesn't really qualify for municipal infrastructure grants, because we are not the owners of the land, so it's in this no man's land of infrastructure funding when both the seaway and the city would love to see some kind of program or federal infrastructure dollars to help us eventually shore up that land and attract investment partners to our city.

[Matt Jeneroux]

Has the City of Port Colborne had those discussions with the federal government, with Transport Canada, or with any officials at the federal level?

[Scott Luey]

At this point, we haven't. We would like to work through our local MP, who happens to be a committee member, to have those discussions. The prevailing reason that we haven't is that we are not the owner of the land. So far, we can't make an application, but we've lobbied on behalf of the seaway in attracting the funding.

[Matt Jeneroux]

I'm sensing there are three players here—yourselves, the seaway and the federal government. It doesn't appear that anybody is really talking in terms of moving this forward. Have you had conversations with the seaway in terms of progress?

[Scott Luey]

It's been a very informal conversation up until now. The seaway has taken the position that they would be more than willing to make the investment, if they had secured a long-time lessee, which makes sense to me from a business perspective, but we've had a lot—

[Matt Jeneroux]

Who would that be? Would that be a development company? What are you envisioning in terms of the economic development opportunities?

[Scott Luey]

It would be some kind of an industrial operator that relies on the seaway for shipping. This is prime canal-side industrial real estate, where somebody who is in the business of moving product through the canal and the upper and lower lakes would come in and set up shop. The seaway has taken the position that once that investor or eventual lessee is there, they'll make the investment.

We know that we have had and lost investors because they are not willing to wait for the construction to actually take place. We almost have a “chicken and egg” problem or “if you build it, they will come”, so to speak.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Badawey.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, gentlemen, for being here this morning.

I want to take it up from where Matt left off, with respect to future direction.

I was the mayor of the City of Port Colborne for 14 years, and I know there were a lot of strategic plans we had put together that identified objectives. What we stumbled on was trying to attach actions to them because other partners—I won't mention any names because there were numerous partners—had different plans.

That said, I do want to ask you both about how important it is—in a sense, it seems to be the theme of this morning—for all partners to sit down together to put a strategic plan together for the trade corridor. Let's face it: The trade corridor is very robust. It's very strong—canal, road, rail, location and the list goes on. However, it does need some attention. It does need some work on the capital side, but also from the operational side, as it relates to integrating our logistics and distribution systems.

With that strategic plan in place and further objectives identified and actions being attached, funding included, what efforts or what directions do you think would be advantageous in whom to work with to create that environment? I think an earlier witness called it a “shared and committed culture” that can be taken upon itself.

[Jayesh Menon]

From my perspective, as far as the foreign trade zone is concerned, it is vital that any companies that house themselves within the Niagara region look for a couple of things to be in place. One is the best format for moving the goods, in terms of the logistics concerned.

We do understand, as of now, within the Niagara region, that 80% to 85% of the goods are dependent on the United States market. But, at the same time, when we also look at markets beyond, that's where we need to look at a long-term strategy or a medium-term strategy.

From this perspective, it's vital that we have what I mentioned with regard to the mid-peninsula corridor, which means it's an exclusive transportation link right from Hamilton onwards. You enter the Welland Canal, pass by Niagara Falls and Fort Erie and get connected to Buffalo. This is part of an important agenda.

Beyond that, if I look at companies that look forward to having their investment within the Niagara region, this is one of the key challenges the region faces. First and foremost, there is no industrial land. If they are looking for a typical kind of greenfield project, they definitely find it a challenge in terms of scouting. It's fine that we do have a great site selection team, etc. Perhaps they can try to figure out what it means for that data bank to help them identify it, but we are still in the dark on that matter.

It is vital that we identify the particular possibilities for identifying industrial land, because if you have a common transport road that is dedicated to that.... I will just cite an instance. Perhaps you are familiar with the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East. They were just an oasis and desert 25 years ago. All they could link up was east with west, with the UAE becoming a strategic corridor. Today, Dubai has become one of the most recognized and busiest cities as far as its transportation hub is concerned. All they did was to create a transportation-dedicated link, which is called Emirates Transport. That has enabled several industrial clusters to flourish.

One of my points when I am speaking to you is to ask if there can be a kind of collaborative support. We should all sit down together and identify what the key areas are and what synergies we can leverage.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Luey.

[Scott Luey]

The question about communication is really important, and we all need to have a seat at the table. I understand that the province is responsible for provincial highways in Ontario. When you look at Niagara as a whole, when you look at it on a map, as the member described, or you look at it on paper, it looks like the perfect storm of opportunity with road, rail, short-sea and lake shipping and the international border crossings, but we sometimes feel a little bit of neglect because we see the 407 extended into Durham County. We see the rapid growth in York region. That just hasn't materialized in Niagara and there is no reason that it shouldn't have. The mid-peninsula corridor, or the east-west route—it's known by several names—is one of the key infrastructure pieces. I think the federal role is in leading that discussion and making it a national transportation issue more so than a provincial highway issue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much.

Monsieur Aubin.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

If there was ever a time when I regretted not living in this region, it is now, because I have rarely heard witnesses present so many proposals in so short a time. If someone could put them in order, it would help me a lot.

Mr. Luey, you told us about the wharves deteriorating, the lack of maintenance on the Welland Canal, and the lack of industrial land. Those are concepts that are quite easily understood, but it you had to put them in priority order, where would you start?

[Scott Luey]

Through the chair, I think the number one priority for Niagara is the highway connectivity of the mid-peninsula corridor. That's what is going to get our products and people into the national supply chain.

The second priority to me would be unlocking economic development lands. There is absolutely an industrial land shortage in Niagara, and in Port Colborne in particular.

The third priority would be remediation of seaway assets, that is, opening up the docks and wharves and canal walls to industrial users and allowing us to bring more employment lands on stream.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

In that search for industrial land, is there also any collaboration with the provincial government to see whether it might have a solution for land use?

[Jayesh Menon]

The day before yesterday I had a chat with the Fort Erie and Niagara Falls EDOs. They said to me that they are looking forward to unlocking almost 2,000 acres, that is, 800 acres within Niagara Falls and 1,200 acres in Fort Erie.

When we say there's a joint collaboration with provincial support and federal blessing, this is a great thing. We need to understand that all of us together as EDOs and respective regulatory agencies, when we come together in a platform like this, perhaps a priority agenda could be set, and work that's already in place that requires federal blessing can take off with provincial support.

These lands are already available in place.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

I will continue with you, Mr. Menon.

In your opening remarks, you talked about a port, maybe even several ports, that must be established along the Welland Canal.

Let us just start with one port. Where would it be located? Have anyone assessed the scope of that project in any way, and the steps needed to make it a reality?

[Jayesh Menon]

That's a very good question.

I am a single contact point, which means I can connect you with the right reviews. Vance perhaps is listening to this too. Already you need to reach out with our reviews of some of the strategic locations. I can support you in the specific, most complete strategic locations. I don't have that mandate to name them right now.

[Robert Aubin, NDP, Trois-Rivières, QC]

In that work you are doing as an intermediary between the local entrepreneurs who want to export and the people from the outside who want to come and do business in Canada, what is the biggest problem you face in the region?

[Jayesh Menon]

That's a very good question. It's typical. Time and again I meet up with various investors from francophone countries, etc.

What is important is that as of now the region is undermarketed. There is a lot of potential. It's not about the marketing within cities in Ontario. I will cite one example.

Recently, there was a groundbreaking ceremony for a company that is into indoor farming.

All they wanted to know was whether there was a greater opportunity, by having a presence within Niagara, to connect them so they can get into the United States. Beyond that, could companies look forward to any specific incentives to building up their incubation phase, beyond the help on the operational side, and at some point enable them to have market development opportunities?

It is not the marketing specifically of Niagara because we did identify its challenges, but as of now the region is still undermarketed. If you brand it well, this region offers a great opportunity for international companies to build housing. Not only that, if we can create specific clusters.... When I say clusters, in medical clusters there are companies that are opening up their opportunities for medical formulations, or having cancer care smart centres where you will have technology transfer from the international world coming into the region with investments, incubation, and partnering with the local companies.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you all very much.

Mr. Hardie.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Mr. Luey, does the presence of the Welland Canal and the operations of the seaway impose costs on your municipality? Let's broaden that. Let's not just think of financial costs. Let's look at social costs, livability issues, etc.

[Scott Luey]

Sure.

Through the chair, there are costs.

It's interesting that you also mentioned the social costs. The canal virtually bisects our community, almost on a one-third, two-third basis of the urban portion. We have a very large rural portion on the east side of the canal. That's the opposite side of where the downtown and the city hall are.

We have three bridges that cross the canal, and there's always, except for routine maintenance, at least one bridge in service. Most of the time it's three, but when a bridge is up to allow a freighter to go through, there's always a way to cross the canal. That's important for us.

However, it does impact how we deliver services to the city and to the residents. Fire trucks, waste management, which is done by the region, and municipal transit are sometimes affected by canal crossings. There is a portion of the city that is a little more marginalized—a few more signs of poverty, homelessness, and social issues—that is located on the east side of the canal, while most of the community services are on the west side.

I think there is a bit of a social cost to the municipality. Libraries, stores, even retail financial services and so on, are primarily provided on the west side of the canal, and these residents live on the east side.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Do you get tax revenue from the seaway organization?