Manitoba business groups look to expand trade partnerships with Nunavut
Business groups are looking north to expand trade partnerships and economic opportunities.
Nunavut was the focus of a discussion held Thursday at the Winnipeg Art Gallery—home to the new Inuit art centre named Qaumajuq.
The territory has existing relationships with Manitoba and some see the potential for further growth, particularly in the southernmost region of Kivalliq.
“It goes way back, whether it’s for medical travel or with the Churchill port for transporting goods to the region,” said Patrick Tagoona, president of the Kivalliq Chamber of Commerce based in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, of the relationship with Manitoba.
In the Kivalliq region some cargo comes from Manitoba, either by air or by rail and then onto Nunavut by ship from the Port of Churchill.
It’s a relationship Derrick Webster knows well. He’s the chief operating officer of the Inuit-owned EPLS Group of Companies based in Arviat, Nunavut which works to supply the territory with a variety of goods and services including food and clothing and building supplies.
“The government up there and the people are very supportive of people who are there to give and not just take and that’s really the approach and they’re very quick to identify that,” Webster said.
He shared his perspectives at a discussion hosted Thursday by the World Trade Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and Business Council of Manitoba on expanding trade partnerships with Nunavut.
Jon Reyes, Manitoba’s Minister of Economic Development and Jobs, told attendees Manitoba and Nunavut have already been working together for more than a decade in areas such as economic development, trade and energy.
“Today’s event provides an opportunity to strengthen and further this relationship and unleash the potential of our economies for more jobs and sustainable growth,” Reyes said.
The mayors of the northern Manitoba communities of Thompson and Churchill see benefits in beefing up the trade link with Nunavut.
“The opportunities are endless,” said Colleen Smook, Thompson’s mayor. “We’re already a supply chain with the rail that takes a lot of the commodities up there.”
Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said reinvestments in the rail line to his community will help keep it an intricate part of the trade link between Manitoba and Nunavut.
“We’re connected,” Spence said. “It’s a matter of improving on infrastructure, which we’re doing.”
With no connection by road, Manitoba-based companies like Calm Air are relied upon heavily to keep people and supplies moving but it’s expensive, according to CEO Gary Bell since goods travel one way and planes return empty.
He said the company would like to be able to bring back more northern-produced goods to help cut down costs.
“The price of that would be really attractive because now we can lower the price of all goods going in both directions,” Bell told attendees of the discussion at the WAG.
Tagoona said there’s support for expanding partnerships.
“We’ve got two operating mines right now in our region,” he said. “That right now—in terms of job opportunities, providing products—that’s significant.”
Tagoona also noted it’s important new ventures benefit people in the region, by giving them opportunity and respecting their values.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.