Thank you very much.
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak as part of the committee's work.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the government's strong commitment, as well as that of its parliamentarians, to improving the resilience of Canadian supply chains.
I am Daniel Dagenais, vice-president of port performance and sustainable development at the Montreal Port Authority. I represent a major public utility. As it is the only container port on the St. Lawrence River, it serves the markets in both Quebec and Ontario. With nearly one in three Canadian containers passing through our facilities, we are an essential and strategic link in a supply chain that serves thousands of businesses and contributes to Canada's economic vitality and the well-being of families.
Prior to the pandemic and the two labour disruptions that affected our operations, we experienced significant growth in container volumes while maintaining a steady trade balance. Today, we are a diversified platform supported by a logistics ecosystem of over 6,300 companies. More than 100 billion pieces of cargo pass through our facilities each year.
Despite the global disruption of supply chains, Montreal's customers do not experience the congestion seen at competing ports, particularly in the United States. As a port of destination, our business model allows us to offer a versatile, reliable and efficient solution. The reason is simple: ships are loaded and unloaded entirely in Montreal.
With several docks available, there are no ships waiting at anchor. As a result, the Port of Montreal's model avoids the greenhouse gas emissions associated with waiting ships. It also allows importers and exporters to benefit from a port that runs smoothly, whether by ship, by train or by truck.
Our performance is particularly due to investments made by our private partners and financial assistance from the government. Collaborations between the port's ecosystem and the Scale AI artificial intelligence supercluster have allowed us to innovate, be it with a predictive smart trucking portal or the development of an algorithm that focuses on the timely processing of cargo required to fight COVID‑19.
As we prepare for the largest expansion in our history with the opening of a new terminal of over one million containers in Contrecœur, today, the Port of Montreal is a greener, smarter and certainly more versatile port. We intend to remain so despite the magnitude of the labour, infrastructure, greening and innovation challenges that remain.