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| Port President and CEO Shaun Stevenson reviewed the year 2018 for the public on Monday at the Port of Prince Rupert's Annual Public Meeting (photo from Port Live Stream) |
The Port of Prince Rupert hosted its Annual Public Meeting on Monday evening providing a snapshot of 2018 and an update on 2019 so far and what's ahead further down the line.
For the most part, the story is a familiar one at this point, the numbers continue to deliver increased shipments through port facilities, while partners some new, some old build up their footprint on the Prince Rupert waterfront and on Ridley Island.
The evening opened with the Port's recruitment video, which also tells the story of the Port and its involvement with community. with Ken Veldman, the VP for Public Affairs and Sustainability then taking over as the MC for the evening's presentation.
The Theme of Building a Better Canada through trade would become a constant refrain from all who took to the podium on the evening,
After a welcome to those in attendance and introduction of the Board from John Farrell, the Vice-Chair of the Port, the proceedings were turned over to Shaun Stevenson the President and CEO for the Port of Prince Rupert.
Mr. Stevenson paid tribute to those who work for the port and have helped with its growth, calling 2018 a year of transition and one where they fortified the leadership team that is responding to the challenges of today and reflects the diversity of the community.
He noted the success of 2018 and how last year was a record year with 26.7 million tonnes shipped through the Port making it Canada's third largest port. With 6,000 direct and indirect jobs created in the Northwest, up 23 percent over the last three years.
The upcoming infrastructure investments for the Port were highlighted and how the results of the Ports development and growth are having an impact in communities across Northern British Columbia.
Diversification is the key to the future, with such elements as AltaGas, the proposed Vopak Terminal and the expansion of Fairview all part of the goal of making the Port of Prince Rupert the second largest port in the country.
Innovation for the future, in areas of supply chain, IT development and projects that will turn the Port into the conduit of trade to assist those who ship through the North Coast gateway.
One of the recurring themes for the night, was how the Port looks to receive the feedback of the community and how it is essential towards the port's plans. Stevenson pointed towards the moratorium on development around Lelu Island as an area where they heard the concerns of the public and took decisions to reflect that engagement.
He also observed how they are looking to be committed to environmental and safety issues and constantly revise their plans of approach in those areas. Stressing that it all requires partnerships with the community and awareness of their concerns.
First Nations engagement and partnership was considered the most important element for the Port and its recognition of the community it operates in, as well as the need to be inclusive, to keep communities informed and gain feedback from them.
"But most importantly, we also recognize the deep partnership that we have and will be required to have going forward with our local First Nations, they are more than just a stakeholder, they are our most critical partner. And we've made tremendous progress over the last decade in that regard. And I think that we've demonstrated our commitment to both their economic vitality but also their involvement in setting the course for the growth and expansion of the Port of Prince Rupert."
Stevenson pointed to the construction of the Fairview Connector road as a symbol of that partnership, a 100 million dollar contract which is being developed by a joint venture led by Metlakatla-Lax Kw'alaams, something which he observed demonstrates the entrenched participation that First Nations in the area have in the growth and expansion of the Port.
He also noted as to how it's just the start towards further ventures, with areas of Environmental Assessment and deeper alignments in their economic development objectives among the potential joint partnerships that the future holds.
"Ultimately it goes back to our purpose. We talk about building a better Canada through trade, well part of building a better Canada is also building a Better Prince Rupert, it's building a better Lax Kw'alaams, it's building a better Metlakatla, it's building a better Port Edward, it's building a better Kitkatla for that matter, the list goes on, But beyond the economic impacts of a growing port, we're also committed to a spirit of collaboration to ensure that the benefits of a growing port are shared by all"
That listing of the communities served as an introduction towards some further investment in the Port's Community Investment fund.
With the Port CEO and President highlighting the 14 community related projects that the Port invested 1.1 million dollars towards during 2018 and then shared details of plans to add another 1.1 million dollars to be injected into the Fund for 2019.
He further observed that with the additional funding for this year, the Fund has made available 10.3 million dollars since it was created back in 2009.
The financial overview of 2018 fell to Joe Rektor, the Vice-President Finance, who hailed the positive growth that the organization has achieved over the last ten years.
Of note from the review for local municipalities was a decrease in payments in lieu of taxes which were down by three percent at 2.5 million for both Prince Rupert and Port Edward.
He also took note of where the Port fits into the roster of nations eighteen port authorities, with the Port's volume of shipments making it number three in container shipments and number four in total tonnage for all commodities, with Vancouver, Montreal and Quebec City ahead of the Northwest Gateway.
Brian Friesen, the Vice-President for Trade Development and Communications provided some detail to the range of terminal operations that are found as part of the Port of Prince Rupert footprint, making note of the shipment levels at Ridley Terminals, Prince Rupert Grain, Pinnacle's Westview Terminal, passenger numbers for the Northland Cruise Terminal, and DP World Fairview Terminal.
On the theme of diversification, he made note of the impact of the RayMont Terminal on Ridley Island, that or Alta Gas, as well as the expansion plans for the Fairview Terminal.
With that diversification and progress towards that goal, he provided a glimpse of some of the infrastructure planning that the Port has in place towards the future, highlighting some of the infrastructure expansion that will be required.
Towards the future, such areas as the Zanardi bridge, the causeway at Ridley and the Road and Rail Utility corridor to name a few all will see improvements or expansion in the years ahead.
The significance of the Fairview Connector Corridor Road expected to be completed by the end of 2020, was also was taken note of and how it will increase rail siding space and reduce the amount of time that the trucks are on the road between the container terminal and off site facilities, as well as the long sought after goal of taking them off of the city's streets.
From that Friesen also provided a strong indication as to the surge in traffic that the Port has seen in just the last two years, noting that 200 trucks travel from the port to off site facilities each day today, compared to 50 from 2017.
Ken Veldman returned to offer up a short overview of the Port's Environmental Assessment process and what factors are part of the planning process.
He also outlined the three projects that were under the EA process in 2018.
Among them:
The Wolverine Terminal proposal for the Prince Rupert shoreline, started in 2017 and completed in 2019.
Ridley Terminals Berth Expansion to allow for increased shipments, which is a new review.
And the Vopak Pacific Canada Bulk Fuels terminal on Ridley Island, that Environmental Assessment process that began in 2018 and remains underway.
The range of initiatives that the Port has put in place towards environmental review were noted, including the number of air monitoring stations that the port has installed. Work towards Green House Gas emissions through the Green Wave program and shoreline power planning were highlighted, as well as the partnerships the Port is building in environmental study in the region.
Community engagement and consultation was also a theme of the presentation, as was the communication strategy that the Port has used to deliver the Port's development notes and the investments that it has made in the community.
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| Ken Veldman reviewed a number of questions submitted to the APM (photo from the PRPA livestream) |
The evening came to an end with a Question and Answer period, among some of the themes explored by those in attendance or viewing from home included:
When the Port will be automated and the impact on employment that it may deliver made for an early question: for the most part the answers indicated that it was still too early in the game to provide any definitive word on a timeline of automation, though in the short term no automation is expected with the arrival of the next port expansion.
Anchor dragging made for another topic of interest, with some background on past incidents and what the Port is doing to manage the risk in the harbour, which includes further study of the issue and the ports current procedures and policies.
The status of the cabin and totem pole put in place by protesters on Lelu Island was another avenue for questions, the Port stated that they have no plans to do anything with the structures at this time.
The Pembina project on the city owned Watson Island was the focus for some overview, with the Port noting that they have been working closely with the Alberta energy company on the authorization process that is required through the Canada Marine Act.
The collaboration process on Environmental Assessments also made for an overview, with further background as to the Port's involvement and where they put their focus.
The Wolverine Fuel Terminal project for the Prince Rupert waterfront also was of interest to the audience, with the Port noting that it had received environmental determination by PRPA and Transport Canada, which did not indicate a final approval yet. Still to be determined will be a lease agreement and conditions of operations, along with a final investment decision from the company itself. All of that is expected to find some progress through the balance of this year.
The plans for the Vopak Bulk Fuels terminal on Ridley Island also generated some feedback from the audience, with the Port outlining the status of that process to this point and how the scope of that project and level of marine risk hasn't been determined yet. Those elements would all be considered as part of the Environmental Assessment and permitting process, with any mitigation's required put in place before any terminal would go into operation.
On LNG the Port had nothing new to add to the file at this time, noting that until any announcements are to be made they tend to keep the status of any negotiations confidential during the conversation phase.
The work on the Skeena River Salmon Enhancement project fund was the final note of the evening with the promise of more announcements to come in the near future.
You can review the Monday presentation below or through the Port's Facebook page.
For more items of note on Port development and other issues of interest see our archive page here.
Some background on the range of terminal operations along the waterfront can be found here.
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