The grand opening of the Fairview Container Port is only a few days away and with over 1400 invitations made, there should be a who’s who of shipping, transportation and politics gathering on the docks of Fairview.
There are a number of festivities planned for the day, which will get underway at five pm on Wednesday, There will be no direct vehicle access to the terminal but free shuttles will be running from the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre. Parking will also be available at the Fairview cemetery. The grand opening marks the one and only time that the Terminal will be open to the general public.
The Daily News rattled off the invitee list in the Friday paper, all preparing to head for Rupert on September 12 to see the construction of phase one of the ambitious project come to a most anticipated completion.
WORLD SET TO CALL ON RUPERT FOR PORT'S GRAND OPENING
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, September 07, 2007
Pages one and three
With some 1,400 invitations in the mail and a massive community celebration in the works, representatives from across the northwestern corridor and beyond will be in Prince Rupert to witness the ribbon-cutting for the Fairview Container Terminal.
Dignitaries scheduled to attend Wednesday include senior Maher Terminal executives, M. Brian Maher, chairman and CEO of Maher Terminals among them. Maher is the largest container-handling company on the East Coast of North America and the port's new terminal partner.
Top-level executives from CN Rail and CN Rail's customers have been confirmed, as have David Emerson, federal Minister of International Trade and the Pacific Gateway, and Kevin Falcon, the provincial Minister of Transportation. Both Emerson and Falcon spent weeks overseas promoting the terminal as a new trade route between Asia and North America.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not yet confirmed his attendance at the opening of Canada's newest international gateway, however the Prime Minister is not in the habit of announcing his plans in advance due to security concerns.
Don Krusel, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, said the list of those invited truly represents the army of people who have supported the project during the past decade.
"In reality, the opening ceremonies is a way to thank all of those many individuals and groups that participated in making the Fairview Container Terminal a reality," said Krusel.
"Our invitation list exceeded 1,400 people. That is an indication of just how large of an army we had working to build this dream into a reality."
The list also reflects those communities that stand to build stronger economies through the opening of the new trade corridor.
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation have chartered a plane and will be stopping in Prince George to pick up Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley in order to attend the historic event.
In addition to investing in the new Fairview Terminal, CN Rail is also building new container-stuffing facilities in both of those northern cities to handle the volume generated by the container-handling terminal.
"This is something that Prince George and Prince Rupert have been working on for over a decade," said Kinsley.
"Everybody recognizing the port was underutilized and containerization was the goal, everybody recognizing that it would open up an entirely new and the most efficient trade route between Asia and North America," said Kinsley.
Not only will the new port provide the opportunity to move goods inbound but it will also provide northern communities like Prince George with the opportunity to manufacture new products to send overseas at a competitive backhaul rate.
Northern B.C. is rich not only in its timber supply, but in its mineral supply, said Kinsley, opening a world of opportunity. Products made from pine beetle wood are already being shipped in containers through the Port of Vancouver, he said.
Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said that now is a time residents have been anticipating for a long while.
"This is fantastic. This is something so many people have worked so hard and so long on. Although the board and staff at the port have been the lead, there have just been an army of people working on this from the premier and prime minister's office to local government officials, CN and Maher," said Pond.
"It has been an all-encompassing effort and to see phase one celebrated is very exciting."
See next week's Daily News for details of the community celebration of the opening event.
There are a number of festivities planned for the day, which will get underway at five pm on Wednesday, There will be no direct vehicle access to the terminal but free shuttles will be running from the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre. Parking will also be available at the Fairview cemetery. The grand opening marks the one and only time that the Terminal will be open to the general public.
The Daily News rattled off the invitee list in the Friday paper, all preparing to head for Rupert on September 12 to see the construction of phase one of the ambitious project come to a most anticipated completion.
WORLD SET TO CALL ON RUPERT FOR PORT'S GRAND OPENING
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, September 07, 2007
Pages one and three
With some 1,400 invitations in the mail and a massive community celebration in the works, representatives from across the northwestern corridor and beyond will be in Prince Rupert to witness the ribbon-cutting for the Fairview Container Terminal.
Dignitaries scheduled to attend Wednesday include senior Maher Terminal executives, M. Brian Maher, chairman and CEO of Maher Terminals among them. Maher is the largest container-handling company on the East Coast of North America and the port's new terminal partner.
Top-level executives from CN Rail and CN Rail's customers have been confirmed, as have David Emerson, federal Minister of International Trade and the Pacific Gateway, and Kevin Falcon, the provincial Minister of Transportation. Both Emerson and Falcon spent weeks overseas promoting the terminal as a new trade route between Asia and North America.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not yet confirmed his attendance at the opening of Canada's newest international gateway, however the Prime Minister is not in the habit of announcing his plans in advance due to security concerns.
Don Krusel, president and CEO of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, said the list of those invited truly represents the army of people who have supported the project during the past decade.
"In reality, the opening ceremonies is a way to thank all of those many individuals and groups that participated in making the Fairview Container Terminal a reality," said Krusel.
"Our invitation list exceeded 1,400 people. That is an indication of just how large of an army we had working to build this dream into a reality."
The list also reflects those communities that stand to build stronger economies through the opening of the new trade corridor.
Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel and the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation have chartered a plane and will be stopping in Prince George to pick up Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley in order to attend the historic event.
In addition to investing in the new Fairview Terminal, CN Rail is also building new container-stuffing facilities in both of those northern cities to handle the volume generated by the container-handling terminal.
"This is something that Prince George and Prince Rupert have been working on for over a decade," said Kinsley.
"Everybody recognizing the port was underutilized and containerization was the goal, everybody recognizing that it would open up an entirely new and the most efficient trade route between Asia and North America," said Kinsley.
Not only will the new port provide the opportunity to move goods inbound but it will also provide northern communities like Prince George with the opportunity to manufacture new products to send overseas at a competitive backhaul rate.
Northern B.C. is rich not only in its timber supply, but in its mineral supply, said Kinsley, opening a world of opportunity. Products made from pine beetle wood are already being shipped in containers through the Port of Vancouver, he said.
Prince Rupert Mayor Herb Pond said that now is a time residents have been anticipating for a long while.
"This is fantastic. This is something so many people have worked so hard and so long on. Although the board and staff at the port have been the lead, there have just been an army of people working on this from the premier and prime minister's office to local government officials, CN and Maher," said Pond.
"It has been an all-encompassing effort and to see phase one celebrated is very exciting."
See next week's Daily News for details of the community celebration of the opening event.
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