Showing posts with label Churchill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Churchill. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Churchill port open July to November on Hudson's Bay

Churchill Visitors Bureau

 
The Port of Churchill is situated on the western shore of Hudson's Bay, in Northern Manitoba. It is open four months of the year from July until November, says Bill Drew, Executive Director of the Churchill Gateway Development Corporation, who noted that the 2009 shipping season is shaping up to be a good one. Making the tonnage grow at the port has always been a challenge, however, the port is constantly working to attract interest from world shipping circles. The distances between continents are shorter at the top of the world but the opportunity to sail these shorter distances between Northern Europe and Russia and Canada is restricted by Arctic ice.

"Churchill Gateway Development Corporation (CGDC) was established in June 2003 for the purpose of marketing the Port of Churchill through diversifying the traffic base and building two-way traffic," says the website. Drew says, "OmniTrax Inc. headquartered in Denver, CO operates the port facilities and the railroad from Churchill to The Pas." Drew is pleased to note that 75 percent of the people who work for the Port of Churchill and Hudson's Bay Railway Company are local and Aboriginal.

There are a wide array of jobs available at the port as well as in the town of Churchill (www.portofchurchill.ca) and on the rail line that transfers cargo along a southeastern span 800 kilometres, from the centre of the western coast of Hudson's Bay to The Pas, Manitoba. From there cargo moves to points in Canada, USA, and Mexico. The port was developed in 1928 after a long mercantile and industrial age history that began in 1686 as a Hudson's Bay Company fort when a semi-permanent post was established a few kilometres from the mouth of the Churchill River.

By 1717 HBC men in York Factory and present day Churchill were actively trading furs sought from Rupert's Land and there was a whaling industry working to serve the British Empire with lamp oil and medicinal unguents. HBC eventually constructed a formidable fort called Prince of Wales Fort to defend their interests against French warships and this stands today as a national historic site in Churchill.  Today vessels come to Churchill from July to November via Hudson Strait passing Iceland and Greenland and Baffin Island to pick up grain as well as bring fertilizer from Russia. One recent operation in cargo saw fertilizer coming from Estonia.

On average, the port exports 500,000 tonnes of grain per year. People who live and work in this distant Arctic home come from the town or other communities in Nunavut and Manitoba's vast north. Drew says, "People really enjoy living here,'" which doesn't surprise Drew because most of the people are locals from Dene, Cree and Inuit heritage, "It's a bit of a melting pot of northern cultures." The mayor of the town Mike Spence is Aboriginal and Mike sits on the Board of Directors of the Port Of Churchill Gateway Corporation.

Drew says the Aboriginal component has been integral to the development of the Port of Churchill, "The port is unionized with members of the grain handlers union, PSAC, and ILWU locals. We have a Canadian Customs office and the employees rotate on a monthly basis when the port is operational."  The sailing season of today, says Drew, may change in years to come with the onset of later seasons and early break-ups of ice on the Hudson's Bay. That change is yet to come, and nor is it a desirable occurrence, he says. The town has another distinction, "the situation with polar bears," is pretty straight forward, "there's a lot of Them."

Labels: , ,
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)

Read Native Articles, Business Features

Read Native Articles, Business Features
Pathway to progress for all Canadians

All-time Reader's Choice

Search 100s of McColl Magazine articles

Labels

195MWh 2010 Olympics 2011 2017 2025 4.84 million BPD 47 AI AI Insights (for Grok mentions) Aboriginal Aquaculture Aboriginal Security Service Aboriginal Title Aboriginal Woman of Distinction Accredited Actor Adminstration Building Al Gore Alberta Alberta Energy Alert Bay Aluminum boats Angelique Merasty Levac Angry Anna Kendrick Annual Meeting Apprentice April Arms Embargo Art Associate Biologist B.C. B.C. Aboriginal Achievement Awards B.C. Coast B.C. Forestry B.C. Tourism B.C. fisheries BC BC Aquaculture BC Coast BC HYDRO BC Salmon Farmers Babies Basketball Beau Dick Ben Bankas Bioenergy Solutions Birch Bark Biting Birch Bark Canoe Birth bark biting Birthrate Black Market Bob Rae Body count Bones of Crows British Columbia Business Category CBSA CGWA CMT Research CRC of BC Campbell River Canada Canada/US Canada/US trade Canadian Canadian Energy Trade Canadian Politics Canadian comedy Canoe Carving Canwell Capilano Carney Carpenter Carpenters Carpentry Carver Carver/Artist Carving Carving totem poles Cedar Bark Weaving Charlie Kirk Chief Clarence Louie Chief John Henderson Chinese Canadian history Christmas Movie Churchill Climate Climate Policies Cloudworks Energy Coal Coalition Coastal First Nations College of The Rockies Comedy Community Benefit Agreements Conference Conflict Construction Convention Covid Crawling Culture Current Events Daily Commentary Dangerfield Mack McColl Dave Chappelle David Garrick Davos Deep Bay Direct Action Diving Domestric violence Driverless cars EV Mandate Economic Development Edmonton Edmonton Oilers Education Egypt Ehattesaht Elbow Up Election Election 2025 Elon Musk Enbridge Energy Policy Entertainment Equalization Eternal Eternity European FDI FNNBOA Father Feb 2003 Feeding Fernwood 2Nite Finance First Nation First Nations First Nations Consortium First Nations Drum First Nations Forestry Fish Farm Fisheries Forensic Nurse Future GIS Training GROK Gabriola Island Gail Murray Gasoline Geoexchange Geothermal Global Security Grace Dove Green Energy Greenpeace Ground Water Haida Gwaii energy Hamas Hamas celebrates Hanson Island Happy Holiday Heating Hemp Highway 16 Housing Inspections Hudson's Bay Human Rights Huu Ay Aht Hydro INAC Ice Age Independent Independent Journalism Indian Reservation Indigenous Art Indigenous Artist Indigenous Land Rights Indigenous Reconciliation Indigenous artists Indigenous economic development Indigenous leader Indigenous skill development Indigenous sovereignty Indigenous tourism Innergex Inside Passage Instruction Interprovincial relations Invention Iskut River Israel J-Leg Jane Ash Poitras Japan John Candy John Wick John Wick 4 Jordan Peterson Journalism K'Moks Kelowna Kentucky Bourbon Kerri Dick Kiteboarding Kitimat Kitimat Valley Institute Klahoose First Nation Klahowya Klemtu Ksan Historic Site Kwaguilth LNG Lateral Violence Leaders Leaders debate Liberal Liberal Leadership Liberal leadership race Lil'Wat Nation Logging Love Lower Mainland MPB MPB and decadent forests Mack McColl Management Manitoba Manufacture Marcus Alfred Marine services Martin Mull Max Chickite McColl Magazine McColl's Dialogue on Development Melanie Joly Middle East Middle East Conflict Millbrook Chief Lawrence Millbrook First Nation Modular Morgroup Management Mortgage Musician Mustang NBCC NDP NHL 2025-26 Season NWCC Namgis Nanaimo Native Art Neck Point Net Zero New Brunswick New Energy New Years North Pacific North Vancouver Northeast B.C. Northern Canada Northern Gateway Northern Manitoba Sector Council Northern Ontario Northern Saskatchewan Northwest B.C. Northwest Pacific Canada Nova Scotia Numchuks Nunavut Nuu Chah Nulth Oil Field Security Oil exploration Order of Canada Organized Crime Osoyoos Outdoor Adventure Trainingf Pacific First Nations Pacific Northwest Canada Pat Alfred Memorial Potlatch Pauly Shore Pearl Harris Personal property Pierre Poilievre Pipeline Poilievre Politics Port Port of Churchill Port of Prince Rupert Port services Potlatch Pre-fabricated. Housing Premier Danielle Smith President Trump Prince George Prince Rupert Protest Public Policy Quebec Quebec Policies Quebec Politics RIP ROR power RPF Randy Dakota Rapture Palooza. Comedy Reconciliation Recycle Red Seal Reduced oil consumption Religious Freedom Replacement Replacement birth rate Resort Resource Management Resources North Reuse Run-of-river hydro SCTV SNL Salmon Salmon Restoration Satellites Satire Scallops Science Scurry Shoreline Carving Silviculture Singh Skiing Skilled Labour Skills Social Justice Solar Energy Son SpaceX Spirit Bear Squamish First Nation Squirrel Squirrels St'at'mx Nation Stephen Miller Story Anthology Suez Canal Suffer Summer vacation Sustainable Forestry T'Sou-ke First Nation Tariffs Tax Revolt Technical training Technology The Revenant Threads of Life Tidal Totem Poles Transportation Trout Trudeau Trudeau resigns Trump TrumpvsMSM Tug boats U.S.-Canada UBCIC UK US Politics Urban Urban Indigenous Canada Urban Poverty Used tires VIU Graduate VIU Shellfish Research Vancouver 2010 Olympics Vancouver Island Vocational training Volunteer WEF WFCA Warcanoes Washington State We Wai Kai West Coast Western Canada Western Separation Wild ride Wild salmon Wildfire Winter habitat Women in forestry Wood fuel Woodland Cree Work Safety acrobatic agriculture agro-forestry annual fund raiser aquaculture archeology artisans assassination autonomous vehicles baby bank bio-mass bioenergy biomass biomass energy broken building burden careers certification challenge citizen journalism clouds collapse commercial community control cortez Island crime crisis decadent forest decadent forests delusional disaster disorder doubtful economic development economy end corruption energy entourage environmental management failure families fanatics fascists fiat currency film & TV flooring food banks forestry free speech friend function government hello homes housing housing standards hubris hydropower indigenous infant insurance investment january journalism kakistocracy land management lead blown leasehold liberals mind minority mismanagment mountain bike northern B.C. northern B.C.. oil & gas oil and gas old Hazelton pellet personal injury pighead police recruits political population falling prescribed burns projected BBD promises public safety referrals regulations rubber famine run-of-river run-ot-river safety salmon farming security services social capital solar stick story by Mack McColl tariffs taxes territory terrorist sympathizers torrefaction trade trade war training travel treasured memories tree planters tugboat tyranny unprecedented veterinary windpower woke wood pellets woodpecker world world population