Saskatchewan leaders, businesses call on Trudeau to end B.C port strike | 24CA News
Several organizations in Saskatchewan are calling on the federal authorities to assist resolve the continued Port strike on the west coast.
Port employees in British Columbia have been on strike now over per week, and issues are mounting amongst industries that rely closely on exports.
For the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, the financial penalties are high of thoughts.
“About 44 per cent of our trade goes through the Vancouver-Fraser port, and that accounts for about $17 billion in commodities that’s going through, so this a very significant issue,” Prabha Ramaswamy, the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce CEO mentioned.
Ramaswamy mentioned with no alternate ports with the identical capability to maneuver the quantity of products exported by the province, choices like re-routing by way of the United States would imply extra prices for exporters.
“We’ve got what the world needs, but getting it to international markets is a challenge, has always been a challenge, and the challenge has been compounded by the strike,” Ramaswamy defined.
On June twentieth, the provincial ministers of highways and of commerce Jeremy Cockrill, despatched a letter to the federal authorities of the implications ought to a strike transfer ahead, saying a labour dispute would create bottlenecks within the provide chain, inflicting shortages in items and elevated prices for companies.
“We implore you to explore all possible avenues to prevent a labour disruption, as the consequences would be far-reaching and detrimental to the well-being of our province and our country as a whole,” the letter to the federal authorities learn.
In a tweet from Saskatchewan premier Scott Moe, he mentioned “the federal government needs to be exploring all options to end this costly and economically damaging strike.”
Now with the strike in full impact, Brad Sigurdson with the Saskatchewan Mining Association, mentioned a prolonged strike might result in curtailment or shutdowns.
“We can’t get our products to market without these ports and to have these disruptions on a constant basis is very disheartening to say the least; very disruptive to workers and everything,” Sigurdson mentioned.
With Saskatchewan being the world’s largest exporter of potash and fertilizer, each the Chamber and the Mining Association are echoing the province’s name to the feds to take a look at choices to deliver the strike to a mutual settlement earlier than additional financial points come up.
While in Calgary throughout a gathering with Alberta premier Danielle Smith, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned the federal authorities will proceed placing stress on each side to finish the port strike.
Trudeau mentioned he’s conscious of how “impactful” the strike has been on Prairie companies and mentioned the very best deal to be discovered is on the bargaining desk.
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