New federal plan recognizes capacity challenges from trade with Asia

OTTAWA — The federal government has answered the call to boost infrastructure in order to meet increasing trade demand with Asia by pumping $590 million into a new project on the West Coast.

The Pacific Gateway Strategy, unveiled by Transport Minister Jean Lapierre and Industry Minister David Emerson, includes improvements to transport infrastructure over the next five years. It will also create a Gateway Council, made up of stakeholders, to advise decision makers on policy, regulatory and investment priorities. Trade promotion, border facilitation, and skills and human resource availability, are all issues to be examined by the council.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance welcomes the announcement. “The Pacific Gateway Strategy is a concrete initiative,” says the CEO of the CTA, David Bradley. “It identifies the opportunity that exists for Canada to fully participate in and take maximum advantage of the explosion of trade with China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific Region and it recognizes the strain that is being put on the freight transportation system from current trade levels.”

Canada needs a comprehensive transportation-trade strategy: CTA

Paul Landry, president of the British Columbia Trucking Association agrees: “The plan recognizes the importance of intermodal planning, coordination and investments in infrastructure in terms of the role of the West Coast in international/Asia-Pacific trade, which will not only benefit the West Coast but all of Canada,” he says.

Gateway councils already exist in Halifax and in Southern Ontario and Transport Canada is developing a new national policy framework to guide their creation.

CTA has been arguing for a comprehensive transportation-trade strategy. “That the federal government is recognizing the need to ensure the country’s transportation system has the capacity to deal with increased levels of trade is a good sign. Let’s hope this leads to real progress across the country,” Bradley said, adding that Canada remains the only G-7 country not to have a national highway strategy.

“Some of our busiest border crossings are begging for investment in capacity now. There is a lot of work to do.”

At he same time, Bradley also joined a coalition of major business associations in launching a national campaign to ‘Fix Our Highways.’

The coalition (CTA, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, the Canadian Bus Association, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Canada, and the Canadian Construction Association) is calling on the federal government to ensure stable, long-term investment in the National Highway System, starting with the 2006 Federal Budget.

As part of the campaign, the coalition unveiled a new interactive website — www.fixourhighways.ca — allowing Canadians to go online and register their dissatisfaction with the state of the highway system. They can add their names to an e-petition that will be sent to the Prime Minister, they can participate in a survey, and they can post their comments on a bulletin board.