By TOM PETERS
April 15, 2009
The Atlantic Gateway Advisory Council, through its advisory role to the federal government, has begun its work to boost the region’s trade competitiveness.
The council, comprising senior business executives from the four Atlantic provinces and two national corporate members, will focus on the region’s competitiveness, said group spokesman David Ganong, chairman of Ganong Bros. Ltd., of St. Stephen, N.B.
He said the council, in scrutinizing proposals looking for gateway funding and examining regulatory issues and policy, will ensure in its recommendations to Peter MacKay, minister for the Atlantic Gateway, that the corridor, whether rail or road, will be “as competitive as possible, not just to move containers in and out of Halifax or Saint John to Central Canada, but to ensure the route is as competitive as possible for the movement of goods from processors and manufacturers.”
The group is now concentrating on how much work it has to do in order to accomplish that goal.
The council is the brainchild of Wes Armour, head of Armour Transportation Systems, of Moncton, N.B. There have been several gateway councils established in the Atlantic region and Mr. Armour said there needed to be a central voice in order to make a strong case to the federal government for gateway projects.
“We feel it is important to provide a private sector perspective to governments, and they are very interested in having our input,” he said.
There have been some 200 suggestions for gateway funding submitted from the various councils and they are being prioritized by federal and provincial transportation officials along with representatives of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
Mr. Ganong said the advisory council will make its project recommendations based on what it thinks is best for the region as a whole and suggested that many of the 200 proposals will not get a favourable recommendation from the council.
Time is of the essence, he said, as there are other projects across Canada also trying to get their share of the $2.1 billion the federal government has set aside for gateway initiatives.
The council is in the process of finding an executive director to handle the correlation of all the required information and research needed by the group.
Mr. Ganong said the council does not want to drag the process out over the next two to four years but wants to get busy and see how much it can accomplish over the next three to four months.
An Atlantic Gateway strategy is expected to be released in the fall.