Now is the time to prepare for future marine cargo growth, urges CMC president

Raymond Johnston, president of the Ottawa-based Chamber of Maritime Commerce, is urging all levels of government to work with the marine industry to develop a comprehensive national transportation network.

In his remarks at the recent 172nd Welland Canal anniversary celebration Johnston said the policies to support this network will ensure that growth can be accommodated by a trained workforce, and ports and waterways that can manage increased capacity.

Ships move more than 400 million tonnes of cargo in Canada each year, he noted. The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Waterway system itself handles more than 250 million tonnes of cargo each year. Johnston also indicated that traffic at Canadian ports accounts for 55 per cent of Canada’s international trade, and that each year, ships transport goods worth more than $80 billion. With increasing global trade, traffic on Canada’s waterways is likely to triple during the next twenty years, Johnston predicted.