Goal: Make Churchill the supply post route for Canada's planned new deep sea por

[TCBF]

- I can't see the seaway being as relevant as it was years ago.  Back then, virtually all of our grain flowed east out of the praries through Port Arthur/Fort William (now Thunder Bay).  The 'Lakehead' had the largest grain handling capacity in the world.  No more.  Most of the grain now flows west to BC or south-east to Minneapolis to be barged down the Mississippi.  As well, the iron ore docks in Thunder Bay closed once the Steep Rock mine ran out of ore.  Most of the old grain elevators in Thunder Bay have been demolished.

- Once the railroad is twinned to Prince Rupert/Kitimat/whatever, the St. Lawrence Seaway will be even less relevant.  Politics?  There are now more people living in Alberta/BC than there are living in Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces were never great fans of the seaway.  Most of Ontarios production goes south.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Churchill port welcomes first-ever Russian shipment
Last Updated: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 | 4:42 PM CT
CBC News
A ship loaded with fertilizer from northwestern Russia arrived in Churchill on Wednesday, the first time the northern Manitoba port has received goods from Russia.

The shipment, on the Murmansk Shipping Co. vessel the Kapital Sviridov, is considered the first in an "Arctic bridge" linking Canadian Prairie and Russian markets.

Until now, Churchill has mainly been used to ship grain out of Canada to Europe and North Africa, and to receive supplies for communities farther north in Canada.

The Port of Churchill has been trying to expand its business for decades. Its largest customer is the Canadian Wheat Board, which ships grain through Churchill to international ports and — starting this year — domestic ports.

The port is also a key supply link for Arctic development projects, such as new mines in Nunavut.

Churchill Mayor Mike Spence predicts the Russian shipment will be the first of many, adding that Denmark, Sweden and Iceland have also expressed interest in future trade through the port.



"It sends the message that the Port of Churchill is viable. It's open for business, and we need to build on that," he said.

The fertilizer is bound for western Canadian farmers through the Saskatchewan-based buying group Farmers of North America.

Spokesman Jason Mann said he saved about 10 per cent on the total cost of the order by shipping through Churchill instead of Montreal or Thunder Bay, which will benefit the Prairie farmers who are the end consumers.

The Russian shipment comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited Churchill to announce more than $68 million in improvements to the port and its connecting rail line. The rail line is cost-shared between the federal and provincial governments and operator OmniTRAX Canada, which also operates the port.

Churchill, Canada's only deep-water Arctic seaport, has attracted more attention in recent years as scientists predict climate change could open the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean.

Currently, the port's business is limited to about four months a year when its waters are ice-free.

Some experts predict that within decades, it could be operational 10 months a year.

 

[TCBF]

... Churchill, Canada's only deep-water Arctic seaport, has attracted more attention in recent years as scientists predict climate change could open the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean. Currently, the port's business is limited to about four months a year when its waters are ice-free.
Some experts predict that within decades, it could be operational 10 months a year.

... or frozen solid all year.  Some Russian scientists predict we are heading into an ice age.

 

[Shec]

- If you really want to own something, you better be prepared to prove it by developing it.  A gravel road from Yellowknife to the top end of the Boothia Penninsula would make a good T junction with the road from Inuvik.  This would give us a road to one of the choke points of a NW Passage route.

There is also a plan, studied and deemed feasible, to build a deep water port in Bathurst Inlet with an all-weather road from the port to a world class zinc deposit at a place called Izok Lake.  The plan includes connecting it the NWT diamond mines and thereby hooking up with the winter road connecting them to Yellowknife.  This is all pending industry's decision to develop the zinc mine but if it goes one more piece of the infrastructure needed to prove Canadian sovereignity.

 

[TCBF]

Shec,

- Good news! 

- This should be a right of passage for all Canadian youth: Grab a cheap case of dry table red, load it and some buddies into a beater and drive as far north as they can.