Calgary & Alberta Economy

[DougB]

LILLEY: Melanie Joly eyes Paris ambassador role as Carney plans major cabinet overhaul

Melanie Joly may leave cabinet for Paris as Carney plans a major Liberal reset. See what’s driving the shake-up and what happens next.

torontosun.com

Hopefully Guilbault is next to go. His pension is now vested. Wonder what patronage role would suit him?

 

[Chowda7]

Hopefully Guilbault is next to go. His pension is now vested. Wonder what patronage role would suit him?

I've read articles that mentioned Carney is pretty annoyed with him and wants to remove him

 

[trtcttc]

Doesn't that depend on how much capacity can be delivered by additional sidings and switching upgrades vs. multitracking and grade separations? I would suspect that both CPKC and CN should have considerable options to add small increments using sidings and switching before having to make large capacity investments.

Did Nutrien ever identify the reasons for choosing a terminal in Washington? I doubt it has much to do with rail capacity as getting to Washington from Saskatchewan would likely using CN and/or CPKC infrastructure for most of the distance rather than BNSF. A more likely reason is the Port of Vancuver's poor operational efficiency: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/port-vancouver-rating-1.6873992. The World Ban report focused on containers, byt bulk shipment would likely have similar challenges

Longview was able to offer the company exclusive access to an unused berth at the Columbia River terminal, one formerly used for grain shipments. Nutrien has an established relationship in the U.S. Pacific Northwest as it already ships potash out of nearby Portland.
Other factors cited by the company in making its decision were congestion and transportation bottlenecks on the Canadian side of the border. Nutrien also noted recent labour disruptions at B.C. ports. Longview, by comparison, was seen as more efficient and reliable.

Saskatchewan firm's plan to export through Washington state instead of B.C. has David Eby fuming

Vaughn Palmer: Nutrien Ltd. says Longview, Washington, makes more sense than B.C. ports for a host of cost reasons

vancouversun.com

Canadian potash company Nutrien to build terminal in U.S. and not B.C. | Globalnews.ca

B.C. Premier David Eby said on Monday that he questions this decision as it would put a Canadian product at the mercy of the U.S. administration.

globalnews.ca

So port facilities, rail capacity, and labour relations. It's a bit ironic to see Eby get all up and arms about potash not being shipped through BC then turn around and do everything possible to block a West Coast pipeline. I doubt Nutrien prefers the US over Canada, but when the operating conditions are more favourable, instead of complaining, it's up to the government to make the conditions more favourable.

 

[DougB]

Shipping out of Portland usually isn't competitive as the Columbia River Bar is so treacherous. Repurposing an unused berth was likley the main advantage.

I've seen lots of Canpotex rail cars moving through Sandpoont so considerable volume must already transit through the US. Also see lots of oil cars moving through there. Their destination can't be the Gulf Coast.

I hope Port of Vancouver improvements move forward, including :
-DeltaPort container expansion
-BC99 improvements providinf full limited access from I5 through to Delatport and Burrard Inlet
-twinning highway through the BC interior to provide full limited access highway from Calgary and Edmonton to Vancouver and Washington ports

Of course this would upset the usual eco extremist and indigenous rights activists. Plus the Boomers in the Lowr Mianland would have their Depends in a knot over infrastructure potentially impacting their real estate windfalls

 

[darwink]

Also see lots of oil cars moving through there.

Will be interesting to see if that trails off now that TMX can supply much more of the volume that Washington State refiners want. Some of it could be market clearing: Sask light barrels not having a path west on pipelines.

 

[badc0ffee]

-BC99 improvements providinf full limited access from I5 through to Delatport and Burrard Inlet

I think BC 99 improvements to Delta could happen, but never in a million years within Vancouver itself. It's like a key part of their identity that there are no expressways within Vancouver.

But, I think an improved connection from BC 99 to highway 1 could happen, maybe via an upgraded BC 15? Highway 1 does go to Burrard inlet.

 

[darwink]

I think an improved connection from BC 99 to highway 1 could happen

This already exists in a well enough way.

DeltaPort container expansion

This is happening.

twinning highway through the BC interior to provide full limited access highway from Calgary and Edmonton to Vancouver and Washington ports

A close to that is slowly happening. Its expensive and unless tolled, BC isn't rich enough to do a lot of it all at once, nor does traffic require it. Main goal is increasing reliability.

 

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

I've read articles that mentioned Carney is pretty annoyed with him and wants to remove him

I wonder if anyone in the Carney crew is a savvy enough negotiator to sell Trump a couple dozen river class ships in exchange for keeping the full F35 order?

USN frigate program went off the rails, and River could be a better fit for them than the mutant FREM they gave up on.

That'd be enough work to keep the maritimes busy for a decade or two, busy enough that some of the work could drift west too..

Constellation-class Frigate Program Cancelled, U.S. Navy Looking for Faster Procurement of Alternatives - Naval News

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced a "strategic shift" away from the Constellation-class frigate program this week shifting the fleet towards viable alternatives that can be built faster and cheaper.

www.navalnews.com

 

[darwink]

I wonder if anyone in the Carney crew is a savvy enough negotiator to sell Trump a couple dozen river class ships in exchange for keeping the full F35 order?

USN frigate program went off the rails, and River could be a better fit for them than the mutant FREM they gave up on.

That'd be enough work to keep the maritimes busy for a decade or two, busy enough that some of the work could drift west too..

Constellation-class Frigate Program Cancelled, U.S. Navy Looking for Faster Procurement of Alternatives - Naval News

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan announced a "strategic shift" away from the Constellation-class frigate program this week shifting the fleet towards viable alternatives that can be built faster and cheaper.

www.navalnews.com

I'm not sure the river is exactly ours to sell. We could sell the adapted design along with BAE I guess? I doubt the USA would want to build elsewhere, and they don't lack capacity for that size of vessel, nor do we have apparent capacity to build more.

 

[InfrastructureEnthusiast]

I'm not sure the river is exactly ours to sell. We could sell the adapted design along with BAE I guess? I doubt the USA would want to build elsewhere, and they don't lack capacity for that size of vessel, nor do we have apparent capacity to build more.

Fair point on ownership, but I keep reading how behind schedule many of the USN projects are, and then see pictures of idle ship facilities out east and get to thinking..

If the River isn't their cup of tea, maybe moving Independence production north? Could work well as the RCN corvette, and maybe as a replacement for the hero class too.

Narrow window to get a hold of the tooling and some of the human capital before its lost forever

 

[darwink]

The corvette at least now is slated to have similar ice breaking capabilities as the DeWolfes, and if it is that, the same hull if not the same ship can play the light ice breaking role on the great lakes, st lawrence and gulf. As the navy and coast guard work more closely.

Designing isn't something we lack the capability to do. And we don't need to buy a lemon of a platform designed for 40 knots.