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Saint John: building momentum

Mayor Norman McFarlane
Commentary


CINDY WILSON/TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL

Saint John's industrial and commercial skyline is growing.

If I had to sum up what's happening in the City of Saint John in a word, I would say "momentum."

Saint John is moving forward, achieving better things for the people who call it home and for all of New Brunswick. Saint John has momentum. And this momentum hasn't come from out of the blue. It's because we have a vision and a plan for our city. We are making things happen, and building our own momentum.

Consider this recent Globe and Mail headline: "New energy hub of North America: Saint John?" The newspaper raised the somewhat rhetorical question after the Irving family's recent announcement that its oil arm is considering building a second major refinery in the city - the first major refinery to be built in North America in nearly a quarter of a century. The new facility would have a capacity of 300,000 barrels a day and provide about 1,000 full-time jobs. It would cost $5 billion to $7 billion to build and employ 5,000 people during the construction phase.

This follows $1 billion the Irvings have already invested to upgrade its existing oil refinery (already the largest in Canada), not to mention the company's commitment to the $750 million Canaport LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminal and regasification facility. Irving Oil Limited is partnering with Repsol YPF SA, the Spanish energy giant, on this project.

These initiatives are on top of the $1.4-billion refurbishment of the Point Lepreau generating station, which will extend the life of the nuclear power plant by 25 years, and Emera's investment of $350 million into the New Brunswick Pipeline project, just to name two.

Combine all of this with Premier Shawn Graham's plan to move the Department of Energy to Saint John, bringing an estimated $1 million in salaries with it, and we have all of the ingredients for an energy hub.

But much more is generating momentum for our city. In the past few weeks alone we have seen developments that are turning our city's aspirations into reality.

Start with one of Saint John's biggest natural assets, its waterfront. We are moving into the next phase of development, which will see further improvements on Water Street, including new park spaces and a new cruise ship terminal. The five regional mayors back this ambitious project, which has come this far, in large part, because of city council's initial decision to invest in Water Street and the hard work of the Saint John Development Corporation and Saint John Port Authority, which are working to secure funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

There's been progress too with the long-overdue cleanup of the harbour. Premier Graham has already fulfilled an election pledge by committing the province's share of $26.6 million toward the cleanup. That's a third of the entire cost. The city is committed to meeting another third of the cost, and we are optimistic that the federal government will commit to funding the remaining third soon.

Private-sector companies are also recognizing and contributing to the momentum building in our city.

Sunwing Airlines' decision to offer non-stop charter flights down south for the first time from Saint John Airport is one exciting example. It's great news for sun-seekers, and another boost to Saint John's economy.

The city was also proud to play a key part, along with Enbridge Gas New Brunswick and Fundy Linen, to bring natural gas to the Spruce Lake Industrial Park. This major infrastructure project gives Spruce Lake the same advantages enjoyed by many industrial parks across Canada. And I am confident this will spur further investment in our park.

Our momentum is not restricted to corporate successes. Country music artists raved about Saint John, which was absolutely hopping in September when the Canadian Country Music Awards were held here. It set the stage for future major entertainment events to be held in the city. Many of us felt great pride in playing a role in the event's success.

All of these developments are feeding the sense of optimism in our community. And this positive momentum brings with it many other benefits. During the past two years, we have seen increasing growth in our retail sector, the development of existing properties in our uptown area and increased residential development throughout the region.

Common Council and I are well aware that there are concerns with some of the projects planned for our community. And we are committed to sustainable growth for our region. This means making sure that the concerns over environmental and social impacts are properly addressed through the development phase.

And this is why we have developed Vision 2015 - to make Saint John the community of choice in Atlantic Canada.

Vision 2015 is our blueprint for the future. It will change the culture of City Hall, making it even more accountable and better at communicating. The ultimate aim is to deliver services more effectively and provide the infrastructure our city needs for the future.

Vision 2015 will help us to build on our successes and to achieve all of the ambitions of our True Growth strategy. True Growth is about creating communities that will attract and retain the best people, the best ideas, and the best investment. And we need more people. A byproduct of the economic momentum we are seeing is a shortage of workers. In many ways, it's an enviable position, but it means we must ensure the policies we develop will mean our youngest and brightest citizens want to stay, live and work in Saint John.

To meet this challenge we must also look outward and welcome skilled workers - students, entrepreneurs and immigrants - from Europe, India, China, Korea, Iran and other countries around the world. We must attract people who will make our community more culturally diverse and help us work towards a more prosperous future.

It's not by chance that Canadian Business Magazine ranked Saint John sixth as the Best City for Business in its highly regarded annual survey. It's the second year in a row that Saint John has made it to the top 10 across the country - and as the best city to do business in New Brunswick.

Saint Johners should be proud of our achievements and of the momentum we have created for our city. We will continue to seek out and create opportunities that will capitalize on this momentum and help us reach our ultimate goal of making Saint John the best community in Atlantic Canada to live, work and do business.

Norman McFarlane is mayor of Saint John.