Sometimes there is good news that we don't necessarily notice.
[audio wav="http://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/COMM-FEB-1920-2016.wav"][/audio]
It isn't weather, it isn't crops, prices or government policy, so it flies, so to speak, under the radar.
Well in this case there is a little good news. Maybe indirectly so, but in the bigger picture it is there.
The Chamber of Marine Commerce is calling on governments at all levels, but mostly the federal government to upgrade port and lock facilities throughout the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence systems.
The Chamber of Marine Commerce, like any other Chamber of Commerce, represents a group of businesses. In this case the shipping companies that use the Great Lakes, the Algomas and the Canada Steamship Lines of the world and the companies that use them to get their products to market. Think salt from Windsor and Goderich, iron ore from Wisconsin, grain from Windsor, Sarnia, Goderich, Hamilton, to just about anywhere you want to name.
The shipping of grain is vital to the agricultural economy, although it is sometimes something we don't think about very much.
The marine chamber is calling on the federal government to make sure the investment in locks and port facilities is kept up. Noting correctly that many of these facilities are at their expected life-span. The chamber would also like to see a renewed investment in ice-breaking. This winter it may not seem like such an issue, but over the past few winters thick ice on the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers left vessels waiting for ice breaker escorts for a considerable length of time.
The Chamber is also asking for an easing of red tape and a level playing field on regulation.
Now here is the good news. As we have reported previously in this spot, the private sector is working on this renewal. Two major grain terminals have been built in Hamilton, and that has prompted some recent media to dub food, the new steel, for the steel city. And as BlackburnNews.com noted previously a number of the shipping companies have stepped up to the plate, spending billions of dollars to replace decades old bulk carrier ships with newer more efficient ones.
The new vessels no doubt are more fuel and energy efficient, and we suspect able to load and unload in a more timely manner. Just as your local elevator companies have spent money over the last few years making it faster for you to book and unload a truck-load of wheat, the shipping terminals and the ships themselves are upgrading.
That is all to the good because as we mentioned earlier getting your product to the end user is a vital part of the supply chain and these companies are demonstrating they want to be part of the supply chain for decades to come.
It demonstrates how vital agriculture is to the economy.
The Chamber of Marine Commerce wants all possibilities on the table when it comes to infrastructure renewal. Whether it be a port authority or an ice breaker, the position they take is that it needs to get done and if the federal government can't or won't spend the money, then it should consider private sector involvement.
Well I'm not going to take a position on private versus public sector as a philosophy. There are times that call for one, and times that call for another, and sometimes blending them works just fine.
The shipping of goods on the Great Lakes would seem to be one example of the blend of public and private sector with a lot of the docks and locks owned by the feds and a lot of the actually terminals owned by the private sector.
The question of whether ice breaking would be a candidate for a private-public partnership I will leave to wiser minds but the call for a bit more capacity, on both sides of the border seems timely and worth considering.
We are in a time when the federal government is looking to boost infrastructure as a way to boost the economy. Get people working in the short term to provided them the tools to keep working in the long term.
The demonstrated advantages of Great Lakes shipping to both the general economy and the rural agricultural economy would indicate that it is at the very least worthy of full consideration.
