Thursday, July 15, 2010

 

Harper's Federal Government supports Ashcroft Terminal Expansion

.
From TRUCK NEWS
 
PRESS RELEASES 7/14/2010
The Government of Canada supports Ashcroft Terminal's expansion

ASHCROFT, BC, July 14 /CNW Telbec/ - The Honourable Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, on behalf of the Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced a $5-million federal funding commitment to Ashcroft Terminal for the expansion of its industrial-zoned land into a multi-user rail facility. [The Ashcroft newspaper called this "Feds to funnel $5 million into BC Rail Facility. See their story HERE. ]

"Our government is proud to support this project that will have important benefits for the local economy," said Minister Strahl. "By expanding rail access and rail service at the terminal, more industries will be able to use the facility, and this will lead to greater trade to the Asia-Pacific."

The expansion of the terminal just outside of Ashcroft will facilitate railway access for shippers within the region. The project will provide more train capacity and will improve the movement of goods travelling between the West Coast and the Ontario/Quebec region.

"This infrastructure contribution from the Government of Canada is extremely significant to Ashcroft Terminal's expansion and the Canadian supply chain. It will help Ashcroft Terminal install improved connectivity and access to the Asia-Pacific Gateway Corridor that gives railroads, producers and shippers options to improve efficiency in specific areas of their business," said Robert Landucci, CEO of Ashcroft Terminal. "The strategic location of Ashcroft Terminal, the ample skilled labour in the area and the access to a worldwide customer base will be significantly influenced by the continued development of Ashcroft Terminal."

The project will also help reduce the number of trucks in the Lower Mainland with the environmental benefit of reduced greenhouse gases.

Helping diversify the regional economy currently affected by the mountain pine beetle by providing transportation options for other local industries is also another key local benefit of this project.

The federal funding for this project comes from funds previously set aside under the Mountain Pine Beetle Program, which ended in March this year and is being delivered through the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative.

Transport Canada is online at www.tc.gc.ca. Subscribe to news releases and speeches at www.tc.gc.ca/e-news and keep up to date on the latest from Transport Canada.

This news release may be made available in alternative formats for persons living with visual disabilities.

Backgrounder

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASIA-PACIFIC GATEWAY AND CORRIDOR INITIATIVE 
 The Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor is a network of transportation infrastructure, including British Columbia's Lower Mainland and Prince Rupert ports, their principal road and rail connections stretching across Western Canada and south to the United States, key border crossings and major Canadian airports.

The network serves all of Canada and aims to take advantage of Canada's strategic location at the crossroads between the North American marketplace and the booming economies of Asia.

On October 11, 2006, Prime Minister Harper announced the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative (APGCI) with an initial investment of $591 million. A further commitment of $410 million was made in Budget 2007, bringing total federal funding for the Initiative to more than $1 billion. The APGCI is a long-term effort, focusing on infrastructure, policy, governance and operational issues together under a single multimodal, system-based, public-private strategy.

An investment of $44 million is being made towards APGCI-related surface transportation projects through the federal response to the mountain pine beetle infestation. The goal of the projects is to enhance the economic base of affected communities through economic development and infrastructure projects for the purpose of encouraging the long-term stability and diversification of economic activity in these communities.

In an era of rapidly moving and integrated global supply chains, policies and investments must consider entire transportation systems - systems that connect, for example, Asia with North America's economic heartland. In this context, making the right investments anywhere along the system benefits all who rely on it and not just those in jurisdictions where dollars are invested.

The Government of Canada's contributions to APGCI projects will improve the transportation system by:

<< - increasing transportation capacity; - reducing congestion at key locations for Asia-Pacific trade; - improving connections between modes; and - enhancing its efficiency, safety and security. >>
The Government of Canada's investments will continue to promote increased investments by the private sector and other public-sector partners to ensure efficient and seamless connections between the various modes of transportation and improve traffic flows for international cargo.


For further information please contact:

Mélisa Leclerc,
Director of Communications,
Office of the President of the Treasury Board and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, 613-952-5051;
Media Relations, Transport Canada, Ottawa, 613-993-0055

""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""

Comments:
The project will also help reduce the number of trucks in the Lower Mainland with the environmental benefit of reduced greenhouse gases.

Yeah, but it's not going to help out the fragile semi-desert ecology in the mid-Thompson Country is it? It's bad enough the garbage dumps were located there; now concentrating even MORE truck traffic there (and presumably also more through the Fraser Canyon highway) is turning that very beautiful part of the province into the Lower Mainland's ass-end.....

What's got me curious is why this is being called a BC Rail facility. Is this perhaps because it will involve construction of the long-missing rail link between Clinton and Ashcroft?
 
I didn't see this being called a BC Rail facility anywhere and without the connector Skookum1 speaks of, it is a long way from the BC Rail main line to Ashcroft. Both CP and CN serve Ashcroft and CN can get there now from northern BC without the connector. If BC Rail was to go back to the Province then the connector would make sense for the Province/BC Rail to build. I don't think CN will build it as their inability to operate in mountainous territory is well documented and they already have a way to get to Ashcroft. It looks like there is no room for expansion in the Lower Mainland so the terminal is going to go somewhere. Ashcroft has been talked about for some time now.
 
Here's where it says "BC Rail Facility", watchingfromnextdoor:

The Ashcroft newspaper called this "Feds to funnel $5 million into BC Rail Facility
 
What SPIN, money designated for PINE BEETLE, funneled to the Asia Pacific gateway inititive!

How convenient, I found a nnouncement today by CN relating to Carbon offsets, as I know nuttin about that stuff, I had to do some learnin.

I went to Pacific Carbon Trust (Gov. set up to sell and buy carbon offsets)

Which in a nutshell as the CN announcement explains, shippers switch to Rail from Trucking, and they save money, win win for all except TRUCKERS!
---
CN Modal Shift Protocol to help British Columbia meet greenhouse gas emissions targets
MONTREAL and VICTORIA, May 12 /CNW Telbec/ - CN has pioneered a modal shift protocol that will create new carbon offset project opportunities for British Columbia's transportation sector, CN President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau announced today.

Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT), a Crown corporation and leading provider of offsets in British Columbia (B.C.), has agreed to recognize the protocol for modal shift offset projects in B.C.

The modal shift protocol allows companies to generate carbon offsets by shifting freight shipments to rail from truck. An offset protocol is a detailed, specific set of instructions on how to carry out an offset project.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2010/12/c2995.html

I could not see the date on the CN page,just said May,(it is 2010) so I didnt know if this is old news, so I went to Carbon trust page, I had to look deep, finally found it under news releases.
http://www.pacificcarbontrust.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=sLqoUprAV1A%3d&tabid=76
You can read it here, all the BS
such as "Shippers that demonstrate lower emissions from using a modal shift and meet the British Columbia Emission Offsets Regulation can use the resulting offsets to generate revenue through the sale of the offsets to PCT. Emission reductions may also help reduce carbon taxes and/or help companies meet their emissions reduction goals."
-----
MODAL SHIFT EQUALS RAIL
 
Harper is proud of, selling Canada out to China? Expanding Ashcroft, for easier access for China? I know Campbell has sold most of BC to China. Our mills and raw logs, go to China. Prince Rupert and Kitimat are expanded for, China's dirty oil tankers, to pick up oil from the pipeline, in Kitimat, to carry the dirty oil back to China. I'm sick of the word, China, everything for China. Most Canadians, will be out of work, because, of China's cheap labor, and child labor, is even more cheap. Is this what Fadden of Canadian Intelligence was talking about? Too much influence from China?
 
Post a Comment



<< Home