Nervous times up north

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/08/2016 (2800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After being hit by a couple of recent crushing blows, northern Manitoba’s razor-thin economic base likely has more bad news looming.

The suspension of the Port of Churchill’s 2016 shipping season, the reduction of freight shipments to Churchill from two trains per week to one and this week’s announced closure of the Tolko pulp-and-paper mill in The Pas are the latest in a string of bad news.

In addition to those hits, Vale Canada is planning to shut down its nickel smelter in Thompson in 2018, which could impact another 400 jobs, and Hudbay Minerals’ flagship 777 mine in Flin Flon is scheduled to run out of ore at the end of this decade.

It’s all contributing to a pall of anxiety being cast across the North.

“Things look like they’re coming apart at the seams in northern Manitoba,” said Ron Evans — chief of Norway House Cree Nation and co-chairman of the Manitoba Mining Advisory Council.

Chuck Davidson, president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, toured several northern communities earlier this summer before Omnitrax Canada — which operates the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway — announced it has decided to curtail operations.

“There is a ton of nervousness in northern Manitoba,” Davidson said.

A group of 20 business and government officials are flying to Churchill Monday as a show of solidarity with the North. Unfortunately, they may not be able to offer much more than moral support.

Some say the situation is so urgent it ought to prompt Premier Brian Pallister’s Progressive Conservative government to move its northern economic development strategy up the priority list. But that is not likely to happen.

Cliff Cullen, minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade, will be on the trip and is scheduled to meet with business and town officials. But he’s not going to be able pass on any news of progress regarding the opening of the 2016 shipping season, for example, because he said this week he has not even spoken to Omnitrax officials lately.

He’s also not going to offer any stepped-up policy announcement to kick-start the northern economy.

Olivia Baldwin-Valainis, the provincial government’s director of communications, said, “This (a northern economic development strategy) was a priority for some time; it’s not a higher priority now than it was a month ago. We are not doing policy on the fly, and there is no knee-jerk reaction to these things.”

‘In terms of the province coming in and talking about tourism, that’s great. But thecommunity isbanking on, and the region is banking on, a fix for the rail and the port’– Churchill mayor Michael Spence

She said the Pallister campaign spoke about a broad strategy for the North not focusing on one community or one sector. Cullen alluded to that in remarks at the conclusion of meetings earlier this week with federal, provincial and territorial energy ministers when he spoke about consultation with indigenous communities and the need to create opportunities and an environment where investment can be attracted and opportunities allowed to be developed.

The Churchill trip was originally planned for three weeks ago but was grounded because of bad weather. Baldwin-Valainis said the purpose of the trip is to have a broad discussion about the North.

“This is the next step of our development of a northern strategy” that has emphasized tourism development, she said.

That was of little comfort in Churchill.

“In terms of the province coming in and talking about tourism, that’s great. But the community is banking on, and the region is banking on, a fix for the rail and the port,” Mayor Michael Spence said.

He said that was the top priority for Churchill, but little progress has been made in that regard since Omnitrax announced the layoff of the entire port staff at the end of July.

Davidson said the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce wants to show support for the northern business community.

“It is a huge issue,” he said. “We are going to be pushing them (the Pallister government) that this needs to be a top priority. It is long overdue.”

Davidson said his sense is the North has been ignored and taken for granted for far too long.

“We need to raise awareness and remind people that the resource industry in Manitoba is important and has a huge trickle-down effect,” he said. “We can’t just abandon it without putting an effort into a development strategy and looking at what other opportunities are out there.”

MTS officials will be part of the delegation to Churchill and are expected to announce some service enhancements.

An MTS officials said, “As with previous service announcements in Thompson, Morris and Winnipeg, our participation in the visit to Churchill underscores that we’re dedicated to delivering the best communications services to small towns, remote communities and major urban centres alike across the province.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca