From Premier Stelmach himself:
http://www.premier.alberta.ca/speeches/speeches-2007-mar-29-Prince_Rupert_Port.cfm
Port of Prince Rupert Connector Event
Edmonton
March 28, 2007
Check Against Delivery
Thank you Bob for that kind introduction.
And good morning to you all.
On behalf of the Government of Alberta, I'd like to welcome you to the Port of Prince Rupert Connector event.
And to those of you from out of province: Welcome to Alberta!
I'd like to offer a special welcome to Mayor Herb Pond of Prince Rupert and Mayor Colin Kinsley of Prince George.
It came as good news to me that mayors Pond and Kinsley later today will be will signing a memorandum of understanding with Mayor Mandel.
I'm very proud of the spirit of cooperation that has grown over the years between the Alberta and British Columbia governments…
And I'm not surprised to see that same spirit is alive and well at the municipal level.
I believe this cooperative arrangement between the three municipalities will provide a tremendous boost in moving the Asia-Pacific Gateway Initiative forward.
My government is a proud sponsor of this event — along with Edmonton Economic Development — because we appreciate the enormous potential the Asia-Pacific Gateway represents.
Expanding and strengthening this important trade corridor is something that will benefit not only Edmonton and Alberta, but the rest of the country as well.
I've often said "What's good for Alberta is good for Canada."
Today I'd like to flip that around and add, "What's good for Prince Rupert and Prince George is good for Alberta."
Because at the end of the day, there is no "us" and "them."
We're all in this together.
I believe our province can both benefit greatly from the expansion of the Asia-Pacific Gateway, and at the same time we can provide a tremendous economic boost to B.C. and the rest of the country.
Our capital region is ideally situated along the Yellowhead route to the coast.
And it's home to government and business leaders with the vision and drive to make great things happen.
All you have to do is look around at the tremendous growth and prosperity around Edmonton.
This didn't happen by accident.
I'm proud to say that Alberta has a rock-solid reputation as a great place for industry to invest and to expand their operations.
And my government is committed to building on that reputation.
Like the folks at city hall and Edmonton Economic Development, were committed to working with industry and other governments to ensure we all benefit from expanded trade through the Asia-Pacific Gateway.
It's no secret that our province relies tremendously on exports to generate wealth and economic growth.
In 2006, Alberta exported more than $80 billion worth of commodities and value-added products.
While much of our trade is with the U.S., exports to Asia, and especially China, have been growing rapidly.
Exports to Asia have increased by more than 50 per cent over the last five years.
And given the distance to major markets, Alberta shippers rely heavily on efficient transportation links to remain competitive…
So our government sees the Port of Prince Rupert as offering a new and extremely effective route for container traffic — especially to Asian ports.
Prince Rupert offers a huge advantage, like sailing times to Asia that are one-and-a-half days shorter than from Vancouver, and about three days shorter than from Los Angeles.
And as we all know: time is money.
Prince Rupert is also at the end of a train route with capacity to absorb future growth.
And of course another key advantage is the terminal itself.
Prince Rupert offers a fast and efficient shipping alternative, and can help relieve some of the volume in Vancouver.
In short, I believe Albertans can and must capitalize on the opportunity that the Asia-Pacific initiative represents.
With the expansion of the Port of Prince Rupert, we can establish Alberta as an important inland terminal and distribution hub.
The federal government predicts that by 2020 container cargo coming through British Columbia ports is projected to increase by up to 300 per cent — from 1.8 million containers to as many as seven million.
And Edmonton, given its proximity to Prince Rupert, would make perfect sense as a key distribution hub along a growing corridor for goods to the west coast.
It could help alleviate congestion at shipping ports…
And Alberta could serve as an essential link in a supply chain that would be efficient and reliable.
We would also have tremendous opportunities to take advantage of the empty import container cars returning to Asia…
Take Alberta's agriculture industry as an example…
The success of this industry relies heavily on exports to Asian markets, with agri-food exports totaling approximately $1.3 billion annually.
For a low cost, Alberta's agriculture producers and shippers have the opportunity to fill many of these empty containers with crops and value-added exports heading back to Asia.
From an agriculture perspective alone, trade through the Port of Prince Rupert represents a huge opportunity for increasing overseas exports.
It has dedicated facilities for grain and specialty agricultural products…
Including an ultra-modern grain terminal, which I'm told has a storage capacity of more than 200,000 tonnes, and can load up to 4,000 tonnes of wheat or grain an hour.
Of course this is just one of the many opportunities that we have all come together to explore today.
I am confident that there will be real progress and tangible results from today's event — and the one scheduled for later this fall…
In closing, I'd like to acknowledge the great work of the folks at Edmonton Economic Development…
And in particular the members of the Transportation and Logistics Cluster — who played a key role in making today's event happen…
You have played an invaluable role over the years in bringing people together to share knowledge and develop partnerships…
Partnerships that benefit not only the capital region, but our province and the entire country.
Today's event is a perfect example.
Thank you all, and enjoy the rest of the day.
© 1995 - 2008 Government of Alberta
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