Transportation overhaul essential for trade

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By Communications Staff
Thursday, July 24, 2008
With border bottlenecks and insufficient infrastructure pinching U.S.-Canada and provincial trade, experts on transportation, trade and emerging markets are calling for transportation upgrades and streamlined rules to help keep companies in Canada.
    
The recommendations, unveiled today in a report from the Lawrence National Centre at the Richard Ivey School of Business, include a call for harmonized regulations to facilitate inter- and intra-provincial trade and an integrated North American freight transportation system to ease border congestion.  
 
The report was developed from a workshop at the University of Western Ontario-based centre earlier this year.  
 
According to Lawrence Director Dianne Cunningham, “the common thread that surfaced during the workshop was a sense of urgency and a call for action.”  
 
“Decades of under-investment has weakened Canada’s public infrastructure. We need immediate action to fix our national transportation system in order to seize opportunities to grow and thrive both now and in the future.”  
 
The fallout from existing  shortcomings is already apparent, according to some workshop participants.  
 
“Increasingly, companies that outsource the production of finished products to low-cost countries are shipping those products directly to the U.S. instead of keeping those inventories in Canada,” says Jacques Roy, Professor of Logistics and Operations Management, HEC Montréal.  
 
“Not only is Canada losing manufacturing jobs, but also logistical activities, such as warehousing and transportation are moving south of the border.”  
 
More than 100 representatives of business, government, academia and non-governmental organizations as well as students discussed ways to improve Canada’s transportation system to support growth. The event was supported by the Ontario, Quebec and federal transportation departments.  
 
“Efficient transportation corridors fuel economic development and boost Canada’s competitiveness,” says Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley, MPP for London West. “Collaboration among governments is necessary to fully develop these corridors.”  
 
Others called for improvements to the basic transportation infrastructure.  
 
“Canada requires state-of-the-art port operations, rail and road systems that are geared for the future and not the past,” says Brian Gerrior, General Manager, Imports, Sears Canada.
 
“Fast trains and other forms of public transport, customs clearances that allow goods to pass freely over borders with minimal disruption and Free Trade Agreements in place globally, are needed in order to position Canada at the forefront of international trade and development.”  
 
Jennifer Fox, Assistant Manager of Operations, Ontario Trucking Association, says border congestion has increased despite fewer trucks being on the road.  
 
Fox proposes harmonization of regulatory barriers, such as long-combination vehicles currently allowed in five provinces and 18 states and weight parity between dual and wide-based single tires in Canada. Other suggestions include more rest stops along the Ontario-Québec corridor and additional crossing capacity at Detroit-Windsor.  
 
Some other recommendations include:  
 
· Coordinated policies within and outside Canada, including establishment of an agency to create an action plan and monitor results;
 
· An integrated North American freight transportation system to alleviate border congestion, particularly rail congestion in Chicago;
 
· Research on how global sourcing is changing the flow of goods and its impact on the Ontario-Québec trade corridor; improved public access to statistical data on trade flows within Canada and the U.S. and the state of existing infrastructure;  
 
· Evaluation of high-speed rail as part of a national development strategy;
 
· Mutual recognition of credentials across Canada to facilitate labour mobility;
 
· Education for Canadians on issues of North American competitiveness, trade, transportation and security.
 
Read the workshop report at www.lawrencecentre.ca.  
 

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