A recent initiative suggested by the Port of Los Angeles to court cargo traffic from Prince Rupert shows that people in the shipping industry think Prince Rupert, not Delta, is West Coast’s most promising port says North Coast MLA Gary Coons.
“I can’t understand why the Campbell Liberals continue to ignore the potential of the Port of Prince Rupert while shoving a port expansion down the throats of citizens of Delta,” said Coons. “If Campbell wants to build a gateway that matters he should invest in the Port of Prince Rupert and the northern transportation corridor.”
The Port of Los Angeles recently announced that they are considering paying a ten dollar incentive to tenants for every new TEU they bring to the port by either adding a new service or luring an existing service from another West Coast port.
“Los Angeles specifically mentioned Prince Rupert as target they want to lure cargo from,” said Coons. “The major players take Prince Rupert more seriously than the Campbell Liberal government.”
Coons says he wants to know what the Campbell Liberal government is doing to further promote the Port of Prince Rupert.
“Everyone in the business knows that the Port of Prince Rupert is the player to watch out for,” said Coons. “If the premier spent half as much energy working with the Port of Prince Rupert as he has done pushing Deltaport, we’d have every port on the west coast scrambling to keep up with us.”
The Campbell Liberal government is wasting tax dollars and disrupting important ecosystems by pushing ahead with their gateway plan and Deltaport expansion, says the New Democrat MLA.
“Most people in Prince Rupert are behind the port, and we don’t have the built in problems with congestion that plague the lower mainland,” said Coons. “The Campbell Liberals should invest in Prince Rupert instead of spending millions to pave over Burns Bog for Deltaport.”