No. P 001/07
For release March 30, 2007

CANADA'S NEW GOVERNMENT TRANSFERS CAMPBELL RIVER PUBLIC PORT FACILITY TO LOCAL INTERESTS

CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C. - The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, today announced the official transfer of the Campbell River public port facility at Middle Point, on the east side of Vancouver Island, to a local partnership that includes the We Wai Kai Nation (Cape Mudge Band) as its majority partner.

"The We Wai Kai Nation and its partners are to be congratulated for joining the move towards a new era of port management," said Minister Cannon. "Having this facility run by local people who best know its role in the community - and its potential for growth - will allow it to function in a more commercial and cost-effective manner."

"We would like to thank Transport Canada for this great opportunity for the Cape Mudge People, and our partners, as we explore future opportunities in our traditional territory," said Chief Councillor Ralph Dick of the We Wai Kai Nation. "As well as these new opportunities, the site of the Campbell River public port facility has historic importance to the Cape Mudge People."

The Campbell River public port facility at Middle Point is located in Duncan Bay. The facility includes a barge terminal that is used for transferring heavy equipment and storing and shipping coal. The port facility was sold for $455,000 to the local partnership.

Since 1997, the federal government has transferred over 75 regional port facilities into local hands in British Columbia, under the National Marine Policy. "The aim of the National Marine Policy is to provide Canadians with an efficient and cost-effective ports system," added Minister Cannon. "With today's transfer to the We Wai Kai Nation and its partners, they will be able to take greater advantage of the facility, tailor levels of service to local demand, and have the flexibility to attract new and different types of businesses."

Transport Canada's Port Divestiture Program was established in 1996, as part of the National Marine Policy, with the objective of transferring Regional/Local port sites to other interests. In some cases, ports are being transferred as operating ports; in other cases, Crown land and facilities are being transferred to interested parties for other uses. Campbell River was one of Transport Canada's Regional/Local ports, which range from large facilities that support significant local and regional commercial activity to very small facilities with little or no commercial traffic.

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