ACPA 50TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE
Better supply chains, new gateways,
aging workforce main themes
By CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS
October 27, 2008
The Saint John Port Authority recently hosted the Association of Canadian Port Authorities’ 50th Annual General Meeting and Conference, celebrating the milestone golden anniversary of the ports group. This year’s theme, Ports – The Canadian Advantage, featured high-profile speakers including Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, networking opportunities and Maritime fun.
After a variety of well-attended networking events, ‘working together’ developed into a timely topic, with gateway funding being a potential shot in the arm for transportation industry hopefuls in the near future.
Like a supply chain itself, the itinerary presented carefully linked business sessions, kicking off with a discussion of the special relationship the Port of Saint John has with its waterfront community. Delegates saw highlights of current and proposed transformations in the core of the Saint John waterfront including the Harbour Passage walking trail, a Canadian Coast Guard base development, an ambitious development for Irving Oil Limited’s new world headquarters, which is clearing hurdles for construction within the next few years, and the soon-to-open Bay of Fundy Welcome Centre and cruise ship terminal.
Cruise developments held the spotlight during the city’s record cruise season of 81 ship calls. At one business session, moderator Betty MacMillan, manager of business development for the Saint John Port Authority, welcomed regional panellists who weighed the benefits and costs to ports arising from booming cruise activity.
Sustaining the thread of ‘working together,’ Gordon Houston, president and CEO of Port Metro Vancouver, tackled the touchy subject of amalgamation, recalling the Jan. 1 formation of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, now more commonly known as Port Metro Vancouver.
“People had been hearing about amalgamation for 50 years,” Capt. Houston said. “It’s just that nobody did it. But with the growth in the business, amalgamation just took care of itself.” As the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America, Port Metro Vancouver is poised to make its mark as the Pacific gateway. Capt. Houston added that communication and a shared vision were vital to the success of the amalgamation of the ports of Vancouver, Fraser River and North Fraser. He also spoke about putting solid supply chain logistics into place for the future.
Capt. Houston said improvements to the connecting rail systems are essential in completing Canadian supply chains, a point echoed by Andrew Dixon, vice-president of marketing and business development for the Saint John Port Authority. “To remain competitive, ports need to look closely at inland connections,” Mr. Dixon said. “The infrastructure has to be there.”
John Murphy, vice-president of Irving Transportation Services, concurred that a continuous supply chain is vital whether ship, truck, plane or rail is involved.
According to Cliff Mackay, president and CEO of the Railway Association of Canada, who also spoke at the conference, CP and CN will invest more than $300 million into their Eastern Canada rail networks alone. “The rail mode of transport should be a significant option not just from a cost and service point of view, but from an environmental point of view,” he said.
The environment was the focus of a presentation by Kurt Nagle, president of the American Association of Port Authorities. He described the implementation of the AAPA’s Environmental Management System through a number of success stories – from the Port of Corpus Christi to New Jersey and Houston – that reduced costs and gained credibility among his association’s members in 35 countries. He said the use of hybrid vehicles, alternative fuels, and wind and solar power are significantly reducing emissions. He encouraged other best practices such as eliminating aquatic invasive species and restoring and enhancing wildlife habitats.
Patrice Pelletier, president and CEO of the Montreal Port Authority, outlined a strategic plan to be phased in over the next 12 years that will see the Port of Montreal expand and renew its infrastructure in a context of sustainability.
The extensive conference program included a dynamic luncheon address by Brian Lee Crowley, president of the Halifax-based think tank Atlantic Institute for Market Studies. In its 13 years of existence, AIMS has brought an influential eastern Canadian voice to regional and national debates.
Mr. Crowley took the opportunity to hammer home the grim reality of the aging Canadian labour force. He said industries are approaching “a demographic cliff.” His upcoming book sounds like a distressing update on the famous Boom, Bust & Echo books by demographer David Foot.
Mr. Crowley urged delegates to do a reality check on the fact that Canada’s labour force grew by 200 per cent over the last 50 years. “In the next 50, our labour force will grow by only 11 per cent,” he said.
Mr. Crowley doesn’t think increasing immigration levels alone is the answer either. He suggests that cutting back the welfare state and lowering income and corporate taxes would increase privatization and encourage more Canadians to enter the labour market.
Neville Gilfoy, publisher of the Atlantic business magazine Progress, amused the crowd with his views on how the Atlantic region has evolved, including the New Brunswick ‘energy hub’ that is expanding the economy. He endorsed cooperation among the four Atlantic provinces, more trade with the U.S. and reaching for the full potential of gateway initiatives.
This segued well into the subsequent business session Freight Movement and Gateways with Mary Brooks, professor of marketing and transportation at Dalhousie University. She discussed the effects of terrorism on North America and shared her research on the economic and regulatory environment of the North American transport network and its effect on Canadian ports.
The gateway discussion continued with the panel Gateways and Corridors featuring Madeleine Paquin, president and CEO of Logistec Corporation, who presented her strategic approach to building coalitions to create the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes Trade Corridor. She said working closely with the Southern Ontario Gateway Council helped transportation partners throughout the region come together to address issues on infrastructure, short-sea shipping, border crossings, import-export facilities and routing of freight.
Al Soppitt, president and CEO of the Saint John Port Authority, who is heading up the Southern New Brunswick Gateway Council, spoke about established north-south trade links with Latin American, while Tim Meisner, director general of marine policy at Transport Canada, asked the million-dollar question: “Could similar benefits be arrived at through strategic alliances?”
Panellist Jim Frost, recently president of MariNova Consulting Ltd. and now senior consultant with Ottawa-based CPCS Transcom, said that the gateway concept dates back to 1840, furthering Capt. Houston’s earlier observation.
There is strong momentum in southern New Brunswick to pool resources, and northern New Brunswick also has potential to swing on the gateway. Rayburn Doucett, president of the Belledune Port Authority in northern New Brunswick, moderated the business session and emphasized the need for individual ports to identify their niche market before working on a broad-based plan for Atlantic Canada. He said Belledune is looking into such projects as a partnership with Argentia, Newfoundland, and shipping to the southern U.S and Mexico, but said a lack of ships is making it difficult to launch the initiatives.
Karen Oldfield, president and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority, said gateway alliances can be very complicated. “There are just so many people and so many groups and so many organizations,” she said. “So we really have to have a lot of dialogue to make sure that we get through whatever people’s issues are and get on to the next step. But it’s not easy,” she admitted, suggesting a united regional strategy would help attract ships from India and parts of Asia sailing through the Suez Canal – taking regional to the “next level.”
Bob Armstrong, president of Supply Chain & Logistics Association Canada, also discussed getting value out of overdue gateway strategies.
More than 100 leaders in the transport industry gathered at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre for the conference. Other highlights included a fabulous fireworks presentation, a ‘salty’ Maritime Kitchen Party in a cozy waterfront pavilion, and the ACPA Medal of Merit presentation to Wes Armour of Armour Transportation Systems at the closing luncheon.