PRINCE RUPERT— New Democrat MLA Gary Coons has a vision for the future of the North Coast. His vision sees the region becoming a hub for cross Pacific trade, easing the congestion in the ports and on the highways of the lower mainland, while helping the province become more internationally competitive.

“As the volume of traffic from Asia increases we in the northwest have a golden opportunity to pick up the slack from other jurisdictions,” says Coons. “Prince Rupert will have the shortest sailing time to Shanghai of any container port in North America, and we have capacity for traffic flow that no other region can match. In this case, the sparseness of our population and our remoteness, relative to places like the lower mainland, works in our favour.”

“The federal and provincial governments must confirm their recognition of this region as a key component in the Asia-Pacific Gateway strategy by stepping up their financial support of the port through investments in vital infrastructure.”

Another idea that is integral to his vision is a break bulk port in Kitimat to complement the container port in Prince Rupert. Kitimat is a perfect candidate for a break bulk port because its safe inland harbour is calm, which is perfect for barging and loading the separately packaged non containerized goods that the port would deal with.

“A break bulk port in Kitimat would be complementary to the container port in Prince Rupert,” according to the North Coast MLA. “It makes sense to develop these ports in tandem, as infrastructure costs, especially those related to communications, could possibly be shared by the two projects. Our communities could also work together with other northwest and central coast ports, in places like Masset, Bella Coola, and Stewart to promote the province as a competitive shipping option.”

Although the port of Prince Rupert is already under construction, there are several infrastructure issues that need to be dealt with to ensure that the development reaches its full potential. There are especially concerns that Prince Rupert’s communications and energy infrastructure is not secure enough to ensure that the extended interruptions in power and communications that already hamper business in the city, do not continue.

“The mayor of Prince Rupert has said that in the world of ports even two hours of lost connectivity can mean disaster.” Coons noted. “Obviously if the province wants to ensure we have a world class port here in Prince Rupert, there needs to be work done to ensure that we have the ability to deliver what the port needs to operate. We will not be able to compete as a world class port without substantial upgrades to our energy and telecommunications infrastructure.”