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A blow to agriculture and our north

With what looks like a bumper harvest growing in the fields, we awoke to news headlines that OnmiTrax has closed The Port of Churchill.

With what looks like a bumper harvest growing in the fields, we awoke to news headlines that OnmiTrax has closed The Port of Churchill.

Are we reeling? We should be, because some 600,000 tonnes of Prairie grain has been shipped through that port almost every year, in recent years.

Thinking this through, what affects Manitoba’s farm economy certainly affects even those in the cities and towns who may feel insulated from agriculture and from Churchill.

This will also hit producers in Saskatchewan.

This port employs about 800 people in Canada’s polar bear capital.

Mayor of Churchill, Mike Spence is no slouch. He visited Virden when the interest group, Hudson Bay Route Association (HBRA), held their annual meeting here several years ago. Although this closure took him completely surprised, it is encouraging to know that Spence is digging in his heels, according to news reports.

Two days after the news broke to the public, President of the HBRA, Elden Boon a Virden grain farmer, along with Past President Sinclair Harrison of Moosomin, SK were off to Winnipeg to meet with a group from Churchill and The Pas. They are also expecting to meet with Manitoba Premier, Brian Pallister.

OmniTrax Canada headed up by Merv Tweed, was thought to be sold in December 2015 to a group of First Nations led by Mathias Colomb Cree Nation.  Hopes were high they would also run Port of Churchill.

HBRA, of which Town of Virden and RM of Wallace-Woodworth are members, plays an important role as lobbyists and advocates for this distant port that most have not visited and can easily be overlooked.

Along with shipping grain grown by local producers between July and November, this also plays into global shipping - Winnipeg’s Centre Port truck, rail and air shipping hub.

While the ice is coming off slightly earlier each spring and more noticeably the Bay is staying clear longer into the fall, now this shipping port is being closed?

Anita Parlow is with a Washington, D.C. based independent consultant group, who advises agriculture and industries on crisis management and Corporate Social Responsibility.

She addressed the 2016 HBRA annual meeting.

Recorded in a PDF of her speech, she said, “Given the significance of Port Churchill and its location on the Hudson Bay - combined with the fact that an airport, rail line and port are key infrastructure elements all capable of operating in tandem – the region offers a solid framework for a thriving future, requiring a combination of vision and will to move forward.”

The Canadian Wheat Board, a strong user of the port was taken out at the knees by the previous conservative government. Now is an opportunity for the new liberal government to show the Prairies that they care; and for the provincial Tories to stand up for farmers and the North. It is time for partnership with innovative private initiative.

I am hoping to see the silver lining to these clouds formed over Manitoba’s ocean port.

Hopefully Elden Boon and HBRA will have some hope to share from his visit to Winnipeg.

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