Lock 4 in St. Catharines. Supplied photo.
The operating agreement, technically a lease, between the Federal Government and the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation is under review by the Ministry of Transportation Canada.
Federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau announced a five-year extension to the lease, expiring March 31, 2023. Negotiations for a new lease agreement or perhaps a whole new canal management structure are expected to begin in 2020.
The review process is still open to written submissions to Transport Canada, but there is no evidence of any progress or conclusions coming forward from the review.
An interim report on establishing a Canadian Transportation and Logistical Strategy was issued in Feb. 2019 by the Hon. Judy A. Sgro. It deals with the lease of federal lands and the canal locks, docks and wharfs to the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation.
In June the Government published a response to the report. It speaks to economic development along the canal corridor, a possible governance structure and $17.7 million for thenHamilton Port Authority but nothing for Niagara. The Government response to Niagara’s issues is that the Seaway review is underway, which means the issues are still up for discussion.
The terms of this lease define the operating relationship between the SLSMC and the welland canal corridor municipalities of Niagara including the Niagara Region. The definition appears to be a permissive, one way relationship, where the municipalities have no rights and the SLSMC has no obligations. The mayors and the Regional Chair do not have access to the terms of this agreement because the municipalities are not party to the lease and have no knowledge of the terms.
That should change. Federal election candidates should raise this important Niagara issue in this election, or perhaps they feel as Kim Campbell did when she said, “An election is no time to discuss important issues.”
There does not appear to be any knowledge of the terms of the lease at any city hall nor at the Region.
The top Niagara issues are;
- Regional Roads crossing the Canal at Lakeshore Road, Carlton Street, Queenston Street, Glendale Road, Regional Road 20 at Allanburg, Killaly , Clarence Street, and Main Street in Port Colborne
- Emergency services crossing when multiple bridges are raised or out of service
- GO Rail crossing at Lock 4, GO Rail priority over ship traffic
- Service road access in Welland between Forks Road and Humberstone road as second access to Dain City needed because of the loss of the Dain City Bridge
- Rail on apron of stone docks in Port Colborne
- Clinker dust and stone dust, dock and wharf use at Port Weller and Second Concession Docks in Port Colborne regarding blowing stock pile material, clinker dust or stone dust
- Water quality at water intakes on Canal at Port Colborne and Allanburg
- Federal property along east side of the Canal , potential employment sites
- A seaway governance structure that adds a board member representing the host municipalities
The federal government should include the host municipalities and the Region in discussions of the terms of the new deal. It needs to be a better Seaway deal for Niagara that is open and transparent on issues of municipal interest.
Previously, regional Chairman Al Caslin organized a joint submission to the Seaway Review with signatures from the canal corridor cities of Niagara that was approved by Regional Council in April of 2018, (Report ED 5-2018). This submission was focused on economic development opportunities along the Canal and GO rail crossing at Lock 4. There appears to have been no response to that submission.
The Government response to the Judy Sgro Standing Committee report issued in June of this year makes no reference to GO Rail or canal bridge issues for emergency services.
There is no mention of operational issues raised by Port Weller east residents regarding bridge closings at St.Catharines city council in 2014.
The management of the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence Seaway is a significant local issue with the Government of Canada and should have a prominent place on the agenda of the candidates of the Canal Corridor electoral districts. The management of the lands, and the bridge crossings and a written commitment to the priority of scheduled GO rail crossings are significant issues that need attention in this election.
An election is exactly the time to raise important issues.
Bruce Timms represented St. Catharines on Niagara Regional Council from 1991 to 2018. During his near three decades in municipal politics, Timms sat on and chaired numerous committees and boards. A lifelong Niagara resident and proud Rotarian, Timms is a professional engineer and home inspector by trade.
