Lips sealed over China meetings
Delegation returns to Cape Breton after trip related to port of Sydney
A delegation including Cape Breton Regional Municipality Mayor Cecil Clarke, provincial Business Minister Geoff MacLellan and the chiefs of Membertou and Eskasoni has returned from China after holding meetings there related to the development of the port of Sydney.
But no one is yet offering up any specifics about the nature of the meetings or what may have resulted from the trip.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Christina Lamey, confirmed the trip Friday but indicated that Clarke had declined an interview request from the Cape Breton Post, saying he had to first meet with members of council on what had transpired. She said that meeting is expected to take place early next week.
A spokesperson for Membertou confirmed that Chief
Terry Paul and senior business development officer Jennifer Deleskie were among the members of the group, however, she said they were in transit back home Friday and unavailable for interviews.
Eskasoni Chief Leroy Deny and Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking, who was part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s trade delegation to China, also took part in the meetings.
MacLellan said in a phone interview Friday that he was in China for three days, while the other members of the delegation were there longer. It’s believed Clarke had been there for about a week.
“I was firstly there as a regional minister and local MLA as part of high-level and important discussions about the port of Sydney and secondly, of course, any time that a provincial minister and anyone that’s part of a Nova Scotia delegation is in China, there’s a number of conversations to be had around future opportunities and continuing partnerships,” he said.
The CBRM has been working to develop the proposed Novaporte container terminal and Novazone logistic park at Point Edward.
MacLellan declined to comment on the specific discussions, citing “commercial sensitivities,” and the confidential nature of the talks. He also wouldn’t say whether China Communications Construction Company Ltd. was involved in them, although it is the company signed on to design and build the proposed container terminal, if it goes ahead.
“But I can tell you that I wouldn’t be there if they weren’t significant discussions with very senior officials and to have myself, the Member of Parliament Eyking, Chief Leroy Denny and Chief Terry Paul all in these
discussions while talking about specific aspects of the port are encouraging,” MacLellan said.
“I’ve held the position that this port opportunity is real. It’s certainly not confirmed yet to be happening, but we’re getting close day-by-day and we look
forward to continuing discussions in the new year.”
Saying the talks involve a lot of moving parts, he added he doesn’t expect any announcement to be made “in the very near future.”
MacLellan said his meetings
also involved discussions about exports, immigration, trade opportunities and how to further develop the relationship with China.
Last month, council voted in favour of the CBRM entering into an option and development agreement with Sydney Harbour Investment Partners Inc., which has been awarded the exclusive right to market the port.
At the time, Clarke made reference to looking forward to “an early Christmas present or a great way to ring in the New Year.”
Dist. 6 Coun. Ray Paruch was the only member of council to vote against the motions. When reached on his cellphone Friday, Paruch said he didn’t know much about Clarke’s trip to China but was hoping to learn some details about it.
In September, it was announced the first phase of the logistics park would be constructed on 250 acres of land that was officially transferred from Ottawa to the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs for $1.
Last year, Ports America came on board as operator for the proposed port development and would work with the other project partners on its design and marketing and then the running of the port.
Novaporte is being designed to accommodate 18,000-plus TEU container ships.