In these very uncertain economic times, it is always good to see stories about new facilities being built and new jobs being created.

Those that will benefit the most from Prince Rupert Container Terminal.

(1) Shipping companies hauling containers from China to Prince Rupert and return.

(2) Port of Prince Rupert and Maher Terminals who will load and unload the containers.

(3) CN Rail who handles the containers to the US Midwest and back. Assuming 500,000 TEU'S per year CN Rail should make gross revenue in excess of $800,000,000.00. After expenses they stand to make a tidy profit, which of course is why they are doing it.

Will Prince George see a big spin off from this venture. Not likely, however we wont know for sure for at least a year.

Since Oct 30th we have had roughly 5000 loaded containers go thru Prince George, to the US Midwest. Most residents of Prince George didnt see, nor hear them.

There may have been one pigeon in the rafters, however I suspect there were more pigeons wandering around on the floor, backslapping, handshaking, guffawing, and generally having a good time.

Glad you said "most residents" Chadermando. See is not the operative word "vibrations" would be more appropriate.

Hmm you got me on that on Foo lol. I think you meant Palopu on that one, but I understand where your coming from.

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My take on this whole thing is that we are one flood away from this all coming to an end.

Did anyone notice last years flood came up to the bottom of the CN bridge across the Fraser? So high in fact that the bridge deck was collecting debris from the river.

If we ever lost the CN Fraser bridge I think most would agree it would devastate this region economically. Not only that but it would full stop the container cargo idea.

I think it is good business sense to have redundancy built into our economic lifeline with an eye towards the future. I think we need to take seriously the idea of extending the old BCR line in Fort St James to Vanderhoof. It may cost a half billion dollars for 50km of track I don’t know, but it would be an insurance policy and a step towards thoughtful contingency planning for the future economic security needs of the north and downtown PG in particular.

Hypothetically (politicians love hypotheticals), if next year was the year of the big flood and we lost a couple of spans on the 100 year old CN Bridge:
A)Would the city allow CN to build a make shift replacement in the same location without environmental review to ensure the economy doesn’t come to a full stop?
B)Would the demands of the citizens of PG take that as the long awaited opportunity they have been waiting for to reclaim the downtown?
C)If a bridge or rail line washes out in the forest it can quickly be replaced, but could the same be said of the CN Fraser bridge with its cargo of dangerous goods in such proximity to the city in light of their recent track record?

IMO it makes economic sense to ensure the redundancy of the system, and if this can be done in conjunction with the wishes of the people of PG and the Nechako to reclaim their river, then why is this not higher up on the list of priorities?

IMO that bridge barely escaped last years flood. What happens if we do see the 200 year flood on a 100 year old bridge? For this reason alone the CN Port location in the downtown serviced via the Fraser bridge and Queensway as the dangerous goods route was a horrendous decision on par with locating the pulp mills in the cities bowl air-shed less then a kilometre from the downtown.

PG planning at its finest... if you have a jewel bash it into a rough stone. It really does puzzle me that mentality.

Sorry Palopu - my reactions are too quick sometimes!

Boy, are we ever in agreement on the above points and the jewel is not recognized. You have to be able to see and I am afraid Council just does't see.

Pity that.

Are you going to run for Council?

A lone voice in the wilderness?

You'll have my vote.

I am for our rivers, downtown, safety, air quality and plain good living for us all.

Thanks Foo, I appreciate the endorsement, but those would be complicated questions to answer right now. I'd sound too much like a politician lol....

"As if planned, as the V.I.P’s gathered inside, outside, a fully loaded train pulling COSCO containers from the Port of Prince Rupert made its way through the yard."

What a staged farce.

The ship arrived Rupert 3 weeks ago.
So the CN sat on hundreds of shipments for 3 weeks for a photo shoot....incredible.