Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for having me.
First and foremost, my name is Ted Luciani. I'm the mayor of the City of Thorold right in the heart of Niagara.
The biggest thing we have in Thorold—and the two gentlemen on my left and right will attest to it as I've worked with them for years—is probably the Welland Canal, which runs right through us. Of the eight locks, four of them are in Thorold. The ships have to climb the escarpment, and they go right through Thorold.
What we're looking at from our relationship with the seaway, and we do have a great relationship with the seaway, is developing more of the lands in there for industrial use. We have some industry, but I think the canal city municipalities—there are four altogether: St. Catharines, Thorold, Welland and Port Colborne—are all looking at developing a lot more of the lands along the canal for further industrial or commercial use.
Also, from a development perspective, we had in Niagara a “grow south” strategy. In other words, with the new highway above the escarpment—Vance will tell you; he's probably already talked about it—we would have a new trade corridor between Welland and Port Colborne, and it would run to the airport in Hamilton. This would allow municipalities like Welland and Port Colborne to develop industries around this highway. We in Niagara are looking at trying to bring jobs to Niagara, and we can't bring jobs to Niagara if we don't have infrastructure like the highway and access to the canal lands so we can do some developing along there.
I'll leave it at that.