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Minister Garneau details transportation plan

The government’s infrastructure spending spree has been extended to improving the trade industry
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Transport Minister Marc Garneau

The federal government’s infrastructure spending spree has been extended to improving the trade industry and the country’s port authorities are pleased.

Minister of Transport Marc Garneau announced Transportation 2030 — a plan to improve the safety, economic stability and economic growth of Canada’s transportation system — on Nov. 3. $10.1 billion will be injected into trade corridors to global markets to improve performance.

“This plan addresses the needs for the future of transportation in Canada. It will move our transportation system forward and support the economic growth of our great country for the benefit of all Canadians, and particularly the middle-class and those looking to join it,” Garneau said.

The president of the Association of Canadian Port Authorities Wendy Zatylny welcomed the federal government’s plan.

“Transportation infrastructure such as ports are key enablers for sustainable economic development and the government’s pledge to invest an additional $81 billion — including $10.1 billion in trade-enabling infrastructure — is a major opportunity to build for the future,” Zatylny said adding that there are many details to be filled in but its a good foundation to work from.

After engaging with more than 550 transportation stakeholders across Canada, the minister and Department of Transportation broke down some of the key areas to be addressed in the Transportation 2030 plan, among them ‘The Traveller,’, ‘Safer Transportation,’ ‘Green and Innovative Transportation,’ ‘Waterways, Coasts and the North’ and ‘Trade Corridors to Global Markets.’

In ‘Waterways, Coasts and the North’ the Government of Canada outlined a vision to build world-class marine corridors that are “competitive, safe and environmentally sustainable.”

In a press release the Government of Canada outlined early plans to:

- Protect Canada’s coasts and waterways for generations to come by introducing a national plan to increase marine safety and emergency response, and build closer partnerships with Indigenous groups and coastal communities

- Continue to work with Indigenous groups and northern communities to create marine transportation corridors that improve community resupply and open up new economic opportunities for northerners

- Develop a strategy to address abandoned boats and wrecked vessels, in partnership with other jurisdictions across the country