Canso Strait just like Prince Rupert Port: Plan architect

CAPE BRETON, N.S. — One of the men responsible for redeveloping the Port of Prince Rupert in northern B.C. is drawing parallels to the future success of a little-known terminal at Canada’s other coast.

The Strait of Canso today is in the same situation Prince Rupert once was, Don Krusel, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, told members of the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce recently.

The Strait of Canso should redefine itself if it hopes to
survive the 21st century, says an expert who did it before

According to the Cape Breton Post, Krusel told delegates how the Prince Rupert Port redefined itself from a bulk material facility — which the Atlantic Strait currently is — to a aspiring container terminal.

“You are where we were about 10 years ago,” Krusel said.

In 1995, noticing bulk cargo was on the decline and container freight to and from the Pacific Coast was on the rise, Krusel decided to create a new business model focused on tourism and container traffic — a plan others in the industry scoffed at, he says.

Today, the first phase of the re-development plan is on the verge of handling 500,000 containers a year.

Critics suggest a container terminal at the Strait is premature since the Port of Halifax, a would-be rival, is not even at capacity yet.

But under the proposed Atlantic Gateway plan, which hopes to transform this region and the Maritime U.S. into a cargo and trade hub for the East Coast, container handling development must begin now, proponents say.

Premier Rodney MacDonald told the newspaper that if the Strait, as well as Ports in Sydney and Halifax, doesn’t begin planning for extensions now, places like New York or Norfolk, Va. will jump on the growing opportunities instead.

— from the Cape Breton post