Prince Rupert Council's letter to Feds to express desire to see Ridley Terminals remain in local hands

The potential sale of Ridley Terminals
made for a discussion theme for
Prince Rupert Council on Tuesday night

A motion from the August 20th session of Prince Rupert City Council was the theme of discussion at this weeks Regular Council meeting, as Council members discussed a request from Councillor Joy Thorkelson that the City should write a letter to oppose the sale of Ridley Terminals by the Federal government.

The prospect of the Ridley sale popped up on Ms. Thorkelson's radar last month as the Federal government outlined some of the early consultations that it has held with local First Nations related to the proposed sale.

As Ms. Thorkelson noted last month, it's not the first time that the Federal government has proposed putting the Terminal up for sale and as they have done in the past, she urged Council to have their voice included in the conversation and to express their opposition to the sale.

On Tuesday, Mayor Lee Brain introduced the discussion topic, noting that Ms. Thorkelson was unavailable for the Council session, leaving it to the remaining three councillors in attendance (Councillor Mirau was also away on Tuesday) to carry the discussion.

Councillor Niesh led off the discussion outlining his opposition to the proposed sale by the Federal government, adding that Council should note its opposition to the sale, but that it could offer support should there be local ownership or if the terminal remained in Canadian hands.

Councillor Cunningham concurred with those thoughts, adding that the letter should include the passage of "as long as it remains in Canadian hands".

Councillor Randhawa also expressed his desire to see the Terminal remain in local or Canadian hands.

To bring the discussion to a conclusion, the Mayor offered up a summary of Council concerns, noting that the letter should state the Council would oppose the sale of the terminal unless it remains in local or Canadian hands, offering up the following resolution.

"That Council directs staff to write a letter to the Federal Government opposing the sale of Ridley Island with the exception that if the sale goes to local ownership, for example say local First Nations are interested in purchasing it, or a Canadian company that is interested in remaining committed to the Canadian economy"

Council then voted to direct staff to compose the letter to be forwarded to the Federal government.

Council has not as of yet provided for a video presentation of their Tuesday night session on the City's Video Archive page, when they do, the discussion points can be reviewed from the six to eight minute mark of the public session.



For more items of note from Tuesday's Council session see our Council Timeline Feature here, while other notes from the short session of Tuesday can be found on Council Archive page.

A wider overview of Council Discussion topics through the year is available on our Council Discussion Archive.

For more background on Ridley Terminals see our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review