Wheat is dumped into a grain truck for transport at a farm near Fort MacLeod, Alberta.TODD KOROL/Reuters
Politicians, workers and farmers say they have been blindsided by news the Port of Churchill in northern Manitoba is effectively shutting down.
The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees says workers at the port were told Monday afternoon they were being laid off and the small, seasonal port on the coast of Hudson Bay will not operate this year.
It was also a surprise for Manitoba's largest farmers group, Keystone Agricultural Producers, which says the port is needed to help handle a very large grain crop expected this year.
The port has been the biggest employer in the subarctic town of 800 – the work force makes up about 10 per cent of the population.
The port's owner, Omnitrax, has yet to comment on the decision.
Omnitrax has been trying to sell the port, along with the rail line that connects Churchill to southern Manitoba, and announced a tentative agreement in principle with a group of First Nations last year.
Workers had been negotiating a new collective agreement and were shocked by Omnitrax's decision.
"They had mentioned that our numbers were low, that our shipments were low ... but they never, ever gave us any indication that they were going to shut the doors," union representative Teresa Eschuk said Tuesday.
Churchill Mayor Mike Spence said the town had talked with Omnitrax and had no idea a closure was imminent.
"We've reached out many times in terms of, if there's issues, how can we work together, how can we effectively put together a plan for a busy port season," he said.
The union now hopes the federal government, which ran the port until it was sold to Omnitrax in 1997, will step in to ensure it survives.
The Manitoba government said Tuesday that it has received assurances that freight service along the rail line to Churchill will continue, including subsidized fresh-food shipments.
The province also said it will work with the federal government and others to see what more can be done.
"We are focused on partnering with communities and business leaders to attract investment, assist entrepreneurs and facilitate expansion of existing opportunities to ensure prosperity for northern Manitoba communities," Cliff Cullen, minister of growth, enterprise and trade, said in a written statement.