The case for paving Highway 55 from just east of the Carrot River turnoff to The Pas, MB, was made once again as the Gateway Keewatin Corridor group held its Annual General Meeting in Nipawin recently.

The meeting had strong attendance, with about 50 representatives of various industry groups and municipalities on hand to reinforce the benefits of upgrading the road.

“When this gets a life of its own, this will be an area of great economic growth,” said Leonard Gluska, president of the group. “This is the last frontier.”

Finishing what has been dubbed the ‘Tote Road’, would complete a transportation corridor that stretches from Churchill, MB to Tuktoyuktuk, NWT and west to the Dempster and Mackenzie Highways in BC and Alberta.

“What we’ve got now is a corridor that was punched out for hauling logs,” said Gluska. “It’s not a corridor. It’s a dead-end for business.”

Travelling the gravel road to make the Monday, April 8 meeting in Nipawin was a “60 km/hr drive, white knuckling it all the way.” he said.

There have been some improvements made to the road. Manitoba replaced some bridges as has the Province of Saskatchewan (it still has three to go).

A recent study completed by the Keewatin Group shows a ‘huge payback” to paving but, “we need to get it moving faster,” said Gluska. “Maybe if we speak in unison, someone will hear it.”

The Port of Churchill can handle 200 metric tonnes of cargo per year and carrying lower weights when transporting to the Port increases greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent, he said.

The Keewatin Corridor Groups push is supported by the Arctic Gateway Group, which now owns and operates the Port of Churchill and has resumed rail service there.

Jamie Wilson, Vice President of Corporate Development for Arctic Gateway (who incidentally has strong connections to Cumberland House), reminded the group that aboriginal people have been using the area for trade for centuries.

In fact, treaty means peace which includes trade, he said.

The shrinking Arctic sea ice means that northern shipping routes are poised to become a key area in global transportation.

“China is investing more than any other country in the world and is asserting themselves as an Arctic nation,” said Wilson. “Churchill is the only rail served, deep water Arctic port in the world.”

By the 2040s, the Hudson Bay is expected to be ice-free year-round, he said.

A growing global middle class means the world food output will need to grow by 70 per cent in order to accommodate the increased consumption. Pulses will be of huge importance as a sustainable source of protein. Canada currently supplies 5.7 per cent of the world pulse crop and should increase that to eight per cent by 2027 in order to meet demand.

The port will start shipping modest amounts of grain this summer but also has capital improvements

The Arctic Gateway Group is jointly owned by First Nations and Fairfax and AGT Foods.

The growing Indigenous population in Canada is also ready to make its economic mark, he said and contributed $9.3 billion to the Manitoba economy in 2016. Of that, $6 billion was by 700 Indigenous businesses.

The federal government announced last year that they would invest $117 million to resurrect the 400 km of rail to the port and the port itself. In 2017, rail service stopped at washouts in 20 different places and the company that owned the rail decided not to foot the $60 million repair bill.