[Page 2] Canadian Stupidity Over Alaska’s Prince Rupert Ferry Terminal Stoking Tensions

Since 1963, the Alaska Marine Highway System has operated out of Prince Rupert, BC. As the sole user of that particular facility, a fifty-year lease that ended in 2013, and was subsequently renewed. The initial lease provisions required that the Prince Rupert Port Authority was to maintain the terminal facility. In Alaskan Legislative Committee notes dating back to January, 2009 the Alaska Marine Highway System responded to questions regarding the total purchase of the facility noting that the Alaska ferry authority believed the Port Authority of Prince Rupert was not fulfilling the obligations of their contract. The Alaska House Transportation Sub-Committee notes indicate:

The lease requires Prince Rupert to provide dock maintenance, he [Mr. Beedle – the Alaska Marine Highway System Director] advised. However, due to financial constraints the maintenance has not been performed although the Prince Rupert authorities maintain the dock is safe. He acknowledged that Prince Rupert eventually spent $1 million dollars to repair the dock, but ‘this is kind of a band-aid for a three to five year timeline.’ He opined that Prince Rupert does not want to be in the dock business or to finance rebuilding the dock.

In May of 2014, the engineering firm CH2MHILL performed an environmental assessment of the Port Facility in Prince Rupert for the State of Alaska and concluded:

…structural upgrades were completed in 2005… The Terminal is now approaching 50 years of service with significant wear on all parts of the marine facilities. Although the Terminal has had a series of repairs and modifications, it is in poor condition and has reached the end of useful life. Wholesale terminal replacement with modern steel and concrete structures and a new lift system similar to other AMHS ferry terminals is now warranted

The findings by CH2MHill with regard to the Prince Rupert, BC terminal facility seem to support the contention that the Port Authority and City of Prince Rupert were likely in complete abrogation of their contractual obligations long before the State of Alaska took it upon itself to formulate plans to demolish and replace the facility.

The circumstances surrounding the Prince Rupert ferry terminal replacement appears to be the result of the Canadian Government’s decision to ignore their original commitments, and remains as a hallmark of their initial obligations. The conclusion now seems obvious that the need to repair and replace the dock is the direct result of decades of neglect that the local government in their malfeasance failed to perform.

As a result of unjust treatment on the part of select segments of the Canadian populous and some Canadian politicians, Alaskans may be entering a new era of renewed hostilities that are precipitated by a distant Ottawa government. It appears that certain Canadian politicians would rather score some cheap political points thousands of miles away and make illogical statements about Canadian steel and concrete rather than addressing the needs of the local communities they are required to serve. The interference of the Canadian government in a rather trivial ferry terminal facility that they have no vested financial commitment towards is astonishing and not based on tangible harm to the local economy.

The State of Alaska and the United States federal government have been cooperative in all their actions regarding the Prince Rupert ferry terminal leading up to this latest breach of trust by Canadian authorities. In particular, the emphatic statement by Canada’s International Trade Minister, Ed Fast, that a 15 million dollar ferry terminal replacement on about an acre of property will be, “An affront to Canadian Sovereignty.”

As a matter of fact, a 15 million dollar project, solely financed and built for the benefit of Canadian infrastructure with United States tax dollars is a very good deal for our Canadian neighbors and will do much to enhance the economy of the Prince Rupert area. The deal is all the more advantageous and obviously beneficial considering that the Prince Rupert Port Authority all but abandoned that facility a decade ago. (Read page 3 of this story about the Prince Rupert Ferry terminal issue HERE)