All the pieces are in place now.
A big crowd of business leaders, politicians, mayors and more on hand at the Marco Polo cruise ship terminal for a long-awaited announcement regarding the federal piece of the funding pie needed to upgrade the West side port.
Federal Government House Leader Dominic Leblanc telling the crowd the government of Canada will contribute over $68 million for the moderization of Port Saint John.
He says the money will support the consolidation of the Rodney and Navy Island terminals.
Leblanc announces over $68 million from Ottawa towards the Port Saint John modernization project. #portsaintjohn pic.twitter.com/cxkxfeFhSf
— CHSJ News (@chsjnews) July 12, 2016
Premier Brian Gallant says the Port of Saint John is crucial to the New Brunswick economy.
Meantime, President and CEO of Port Saint John, Jim Quinn says another important component of the project is deepening the main channel creating more options for container ships and the cruise ship industry.
.@JimQuinnPSJ thanks Canada, NB, PSJ Board and PSJ management and staff for committing to the vision #ModernizePSJ pic.twitter.com/7bJoGBmPL3
— Port Saint John (@PortSaintJohn) July 12, 2016
He says the main channel is 8.5 metres now and it will be 10 metres deep after this work. Quinn says it may not sounds like much but in shipping another metre and a half makes a huge difference.
Thank you to the Government of Canada & Province of NB for sharing our vision for #ModernizePSJ Let’s get to work! pic.twitter.com/hIAVc4Fw3C
— Port Saint John (@PortSaintJohn) July 12, 2016
