Applause and cheers greet Port partners at Grand Opening

Declaring it to be a great day for Prince Rupert, Mayor Herb Pond seemed to set the emotional tone of Wednesday's Grand Opening of the Fairview Container Port.

Looking out at the crowd of 7.000 residents who had gathered to take a look at the long awaited project, Pond bragged about his fellow residents, "a hard working people who fell on some tough times and all they wanted was to go back to work."

From the Mayor through the list of industrial supporters to the project, the theme of progress and future growth seemed to be the message to those hopeful of better days to come.

The Friday Daily News wrapped up their Port coverage of the week with a couple of stories on the Ports big day.

Port celebration gets emotional
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, September 14, 2007

Pages one and three

It was an evening full of emotion Wednesday when the people of Prince Rupert gathered at the Fairview Container Terminal for the grand opening ceremony.

"As I look through the audience I see a lot of young people in this community," said British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell, who was the first of several keynote speakers.

"Your community had a dream for you, and in pursuing [it] they were pursuing that vision for each of you young people. Today, that promise is a reality because of the person next to you, the person behind you, and because of the people in your town that always had faith in their vision and in the promise of Prince Rupert."

The crowd, estimated to be between 6,000 and 7,000 strong, came out to get their first look at the terminal site and was clearly in good spirits, as applause and cheers were loud and plentiful as those responsible for the terminal opening took turns addressing those in attendance.

"I've been coming to Prince Rupert for the past 24 months, and I don't know if it's the air you breath or the water you drink, but every person I've met [originally] came up for two years, and stayed for 30," said CN Rail's International Intermodal Sales Director Doug Hayden-Luck. "So there's something about the people of Prince Rupert that brings you together, and I'm not sure what it is, but I'd sure like to be part of it."

The next person to approach the podium was the founder of Maher Terminals, Brian Maher, who delivered inspiring words about to his first impression of Prince Rupert several years ago.
"I came here in December of 2002, and I already was sold on the whole idea, but I wanted to see what was the potential of the facility, and I wanted to see what was the attitude of the town, because the last thing I wanted to do was come in and force something on people who didn't want it," said the Maher CEO.

"What I came away with was that it was a facility that could be built, and that it was a town that needed and wanted a container terminal, which was as much a part of the decision-making of getting behind this project.

"This is something that will be profitable to you, your children and your children's children, and the Maher Terminals organization is extremely proud to be a part of bringing it to fruition."
A loud and proud Mayor Herb Pond first addressed the crow in Sm'algyax before thanking Prince Rupert Port President Don Krusel and the other representatives who were present.
"It's really hard to be here and not be emotional. What a great day for Prince Rupert!" he shouted.

"Mr. Premier these are the people I've bragged about.

"These are the hard-working people who have fell on some tough times, and all they wanted was to go back to work."

Mayor Pond also had glowing words for Premier Campbell. Pond encouraged everyone to hug Campbell later in evening as thanks for his role in making Fairview possible, regardless, he said, of their political affiliations.

"I may have made some of his security a little nervous, I'm not sure," he joked to a roar of laughter.

"I'm going to walk away, but I have some key words I want you to remember: Phase Two."
Pond got the entire crowd to chant "Phase Two" a couple times before Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen took it home with an address that got right to the point.

"A lot of times, you come to these things and there's a lot of congratulations going around, and there's nothing politicians like better than congratulations," said Cullen moments before he was cut-off by the horn of a passing cruise ship for the first time, which had the crowd roaring with laughter yet again.

"I'm going to shut up and leave with this," he said.

"There's no place I've gone to that is more deserving of a hand up and an opportunity for a better future for itself that Prince Rupert."

After all those heartfelt and at-times humourous words, people got to enjoy the rest of the festivities.

Live music played in the background, while kids ate cotton candy and had their faces painted.
Others chose to explore the HMCS Ottawa that was docked and open for tours, or visit any one of the interesting exhibits on display that explained various functions and roles at the Terminal.
After a spectacular fireworks display adults and children alike were headed home after a day many in Prince Rupert will likely not forget.

Border officers ready to meet influx of ships
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Friday, September 14, 2007

Page three

Drug traffickers and other criminals will have a tough time trying to sneak any illegal contraband into Canada through Fairview if the Canadian Border Services Agency's (CBSA's) state-of-the-art technology is functioning properly.

CBSA members were in full attendance at Wednesday's Fairview Container Terminal grand opening, where they showed-off many of the devices and technology they'll use to inspect incoming cargo, all of which is the latest and most advanced equipment available.

"Our staff have done a fantastic job of setting this up, and essentially what we've done is brought out some of our contraband detection equipment that we use every day in our work," said CBSA's Trevor Baird.

"Whether it's in the cargo concealed in the container or on board ships, this is what we use to detect any contraband trying to be smuggled in."

There were nearly 20 different pieces of equipment available for the public to view and even try out, from telescopic cameras to a machine that detects trace amounts of narcotics.

"It's what we call an Itemizer, and you would use a swab to swipe surfaces, put them into the machine, and it will give us a parts-per-billion reading of narcotics," explained Baird of the machine that might be mistaken for a cash register.

"So if there's even trace amount of narcotics, say cocaine, it'll give us that indication and what concentration there is. Then what we can do is focus our examination, so it's one tool to help narrow our search and find what we're looking for."

Also on hand for people to check out were special cameras equipped with lights designed to fit into tight spaces, that allow officers to look behind walls or other hard-to-reach places. CBSA officers demonstrated numerous other tools, like a hand-held stud finder which will tell officers the density of a box or package and reveal any inconsistencies within, and an underwater remote operated vehicle that the CBSA will use to inspect the underside of vessels because smugglers have even used divers to weld cargo to the underbelly of ships.

CBSA has been wise to this method and a great deal more techniques, all of which they will be vigilantly inspecting for when the first container ship arrives later next month.

Not only were they proudly displaying and demonstrating their security devices and technology, but they were also displaying current career opportunities that are available, because they will be requiring additional staff with the growth of the operation.

"We're pretty much fully staffed, but as the port ramps up so-to-speak and increases it's volume, we'll be in a continual staffing mode," said Baird. "We're always looking for new recruits, especially locally for people that are interested in a career with us there's lots of opportunities."
While there's really no way to anticipate what hiring capacity will be necessary should Phase Two move ahead, comparing the number of employees at other ports of entry can give a rough estimate of what may be needed here in Prince Rupert.

"If you look at Vancouver staffing levels, they're in the 1.4 million container range, so it's not unrealistic to think we might hire an additional 50 staff and at some point reach 100 strong," said Baird. "It's a very wild guess, and it really depends on the volumes, but if they continue to increase, then we'll continue to increase to match that."