WHEREAS the State of Alaska is seeking access to the North American electrical grid through a connection to the Northwest Transmission line near Bob Quinn Lake, BC with an accompanying service road to the Alaska Border to service such a connection; AND WHEREAS such a service road would enable access to Wrangell, Alaska leading to the potential development of new bulk cargo shipping facilities in Wrangell at the expense of developing and established port communities in British Columbia, denying these BC communities the economic and social benefits of increased economic activity in the northwest corridor; AND WHEREAS the many mining and similar projects in Northwestern BC benefit from the taxation and investment policies of British Columbia and Canada: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM support a Canada First policy for the shipping of bulk cargo and similar goods through Canadian ports rather than through Alaska and that the Province of British Columbia be encouraged to adopt and implement such a policy; AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that any connection to the Northwest Transmission line from the State of Alaska does not include the development of a service road or a new transportation corridor.
Ministry of Transportation Infrastructure The resolution raises concerns that bulk exports are being diverted from Canadian ports to Wrangell, Alaska. These concerns are not based on any current evidence that such diversions are or could be occurring. Imposing any kind of trade and transportation barriers such as those discussed would be a violation of Canadas NAFTA obligations. The US Federal Maritime Commission FMC is currently studying claims in the United States that the US Harbour Maintenance Tax is causing container traffic to be diverted from US ports to Canadian and Mexican ports. In submissions made to the FMC by the province, Canada and the four main Canadian ports Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Montreal and Halifax the importance of the benefits of seamless trade and transportation between Canada and the US to both our economies was strongly emphasized. The majority of submissions to the FMC from US parties echoed the importance of seamless trade and transportation between our countries. If Canada andor BC were to publicly propose a Canada First transportation policy it would likely be met by US Senators calling for prohibitions on US destined containers entering through Canadian ports, particularly Vancouver and Prince Rupert this container traffic is significant business for these two ports. Additionally, the recently announced HarperObama border initiative Beyond the Border: a shared vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness is seeking to implement actions that will speed up trade and travel between Canada and the US a Canada First policy would be counter to this agreement as both countries rely on access to each others port facilities e.g. 25 of all coal exported through BC ports is of US origin.