◆ Council considers gate at Wantage Road...
PAGE 4
◆ Transit system review starts
with public consultation... PAGE 8
◆ Swim results from Terrace... PAGE 19 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012 Proudly serving the North Coast - The eNVy of the North www.thenorthernview.com 250-624-8088 VOL. 7 NO. 25
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◆ CEO SPEAKS
YEAR-END RECITAL…
Port talks social license at AGM By Alan S. Hale The Northern View At their annual general meeting on Wednesday evening, the Prince Rupert Port Authority said that they have finally accomplished their goal of turning Prince Rupert into a major shipping hub, but with that comes a whole new set of challenges that the group is still coming to terms with. “I can tell you that 10 years ago this was really easy situation. It was really easy to get our social license because when this community was on its knees financially, the whole focus of what we were doing at the port was on creating economic activity and jobs,” said CEO Don Krusel. “People did not stop me in the street 10 years ago and ask me if we were doing things safely or doing things from an environmental perspective. They were asking me whether or not we were going to be successful creating the container terminal.” Now that the port has become as large and enormously successful as it is, says Krusel, the Port Authority are finding themselves having to balance the conflicting demands placed on the port. On one hand, the port must be able to keep developing and expanding because it is a critical part of the economy, not just in Prince Rupert but to all communities whose economic futures depend on the gateway for their goods to get to and from markets in Asia. “It’s the people in Tumbler
Martina Perry photo
Ridge that are now planning to commit to more coal mines and the many people who want jobs in those mines. It’s the people in Saskatchewan that are looking to be employed in the potash industry. And it’s people in the forestry industry that are looking to capitalize on the marketplace. We as a port authority have a responsibility to facilitate that trade,” said Krusel. On the other hand, you have the residents of Prince Rupert who have to bear all the annoyances and inconveniences that a rapidly growing port entails. Rupertites have had to put up with train noise that lasts long into the night, they are losing access to parts of the waterfront and Ridley Island and there is increased truck traffic through town. One Dodge Cove resident told Krusel that living across the water from the port is so noisy it’s like living inside a thunderstorm. Krusel says that while they are trying to address issues such as the noise, other issues like access to Ridley and the waterfront may not be easily resolved. This will bring conflicts between the needs of the community and the needs of industry. But he says the Port Authority knows it can’t gain the support of the community – their social license – just by producing jobs anymore.
Spectrum City Dance gave people something to cheer about over the weekend during a two-day year-end recital at the Lester Centre of the Arts. For more on this story, see page 9
“What I will commit to you is that we will do our best to balance those conflicting demands, as part of our social license, the best we can. We are going to try to support and facilitate trade for northern British Columbia and for all of Canada to open up this gateway to international markets. But at the same time, we want to ensure that we grow those facilities responsibly, safely and sustainably,” said Krusel. There is no doubt that the port has been doing well. According to the Port Authority’s financial statements they released at Wednesday’s meeting, the net income for the organization was $7,743,698 in 2011. That’s an increase over the year before of 184 per cent. And while growth at other Canadian ports has effectively flattened out since 2007, Prince Rupert’s continues to climb yearafter-year and is now 81 per
cent larger than it was then. The port also continues breaking its own records every year. In 2011 the Port of Prince Rupert saw 19-million tonnes of goods pass through it. Krusel says that he believes that the port can expect more successive record breaking years to come. “We’ve said in the past that the Port of Prince Rupert is undergoing a transformation into a global trade gateway. I think based on what has happened in 2011 and where we are today that we can safely say that we have finally arrived at being a global gateway,” says Krusel. With all the funding for the Ridley Island Railway Corridor now lined up, Krusel says that construction on that major improvement could start as early as this fall. Krusel says that once it is complete it will be a “game changer” for operations on Ridley. See Port, page 3
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