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Transportation Corridor a Problem – Change Needed

Nothing new about flooding in the Fraser Valley and the Fraser Canyon. Whatever the cause, it will happen again.
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The May 28, 1948 issue of the Vancouver Daily Province

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Products from and for the Prairies pass though the Kicking Horse Pass, Roger’s Pass and the Fraser Canyon. The Fraser Canyon is a clogged, slide prone and washout prone Transportation Corridor completed in 1885. The existing rail corridor is inadequate.

Companies like Canpotex, with headquarter in Saskatoon, don’t rely totally on rail traffic through the Fraser Canyon. Canpotex is a large potash exporter owned by potash producers Nutiren and Mosaic. They export product through Vancouver, and also south at Kingsgate to Portland, Oregon. They also have a small export facility at Thunder Bay, Ontario.
 

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The point is, Canpotex looked ahead and diversified their export options. 

Diversity of Import/Export Infrastructure is Critical

CPR and CNR Maine Line trains run through the Fraser Canyon. You can spit from one set of track to the other! The Canyon is a choke point. 

Why did they build a railroad through the Fraser Canyon and onto the flood prone Fraser Valley? Who knows. Maybe Insiders owned land they intended to sell to the railroad.

Better routes were suggested. The Howse Pass which is up the Ice Field Parkway at Saskatchewan Crossing. Howse Pass bypasses the drop into Field and the Kicking Horse Canyon. Bute Inlet, on the coast west of Kamloops was also suggested as a terminus. 
 

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Prince Rupert Container Port – Lots of Room to Expand

The Port of Prince Rupert should be expanded. A ship leaving Prince Rupert passes one island and is then in the Dixon Entrance and the wide open Pacific Ocean.

The Port of Churchill, Manitoba is another brilliant alternative. Fix the Railway and Fix the Port.

If we can get Ontario and Quebec to care enough, then maybe Infrastructure Money will be spent that will benefit alternative import/export facilities for the West.
 

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