Page 78-79 - CIO_FEB_MAR_2014

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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - FEBRUARY/MARCH 2014
W
I TH PR IME MINI STER
Ste-
phen Harper’s recent an-
nouncement of the framework for the
$53 billion New Building Canada Plan,
the federal government would again
appear to be signaling its commitment
to developing and renewing Canada’s
aging transportation infrastructure.
With details also being released on the
New Building Canada Fund, the $14
billion component of the New Building
Canada Plan that will support national
and regional infrastructure projects, it
is essential to consider the importance
of adequate funding for every part of
our national transportation network.
Canada’s vast transportation systems
constitute much more than just rail-
ways, highways and bridges. Invest-
ments in our marine transportation
systems, including the infrastructure
that supports ferry operations, are
needed at the same time.
Canada’s ferries form a signifi-
cant part of the nation’s transportation
network, and each year ferry operators
transport over 46 million passengers,
17
million vehicles and thousands of
tons of goods across Canada’s water-
ways. Taken together with the Cana-
dian rail (73 million passengers annu-
ally) and aviation sectors (60 million
passengers annually), ferries play a
significant role in meeting Canadians’
transportation needs. Ferries carry
commuters to and from work and
school, bring tourists to their destina-
tions and provide vital goods and ser-
vices to Canada’s remote communities
every day.
Canada’s ferry operators also
directly employ close to 10,000 people
across the country, and a number of
the employment and business oppor-
tunities that they generate are in com-
munities that depend upon ferry traffic
for jobs and economic growth. Ferries
account for billions of dollars in assets,
hundreds of millions spent annually in
the Canadian economy, and the contin-
ued prosperity of large, medium and
small businesses across Canada.
Despite these contributions, the
last few months have shown that Ca-
nadians are becoming increasingly
concerned that this mode of transpor-
tation is not receiving the support it
needs as a central component of our
transportation infrastructure. The re-
cent disruptions of service on Canada’s
Atlantic coast and in the St. Lawrence
Seaway, as well as concerns raised in
other parts of the country with respect
to the affordability and availability of
ferry services for island communities
and other remote areas, indicate that
Canadians are well aware that more
needs to be done. And they are right to
be concerned.
Until recently, ferries have rarely
been the focus of discussions in Ot-
tawa. Successive federal budgets held
no mention of the ferry sector, and the