Mayor opens up about China trip
Clarke says a working group of investment partners to meet in Sydney in early 2018
It seems only fitting that Cecil Clarke’s office overlooks Sydney harbour.
After all, the second-term Cape Breton regional Municipality mayor has become the public face of the effort to establish a container port and logistics park at the greenfield site in Edwardsville, just north of Sydport Industrial Park.
Earlier this month, Clarke was part of a delegation that included Membertou Chief Terry Paul, Eskasoni Chief Leroy Denny and provincial Trade Minister Geoff MacLellan, which travelled to Beijing to continue discussions on Port of Sydney development. Upon their return, delegation members remained quiet as to the specifics of the visit.
Clarke received some criticism for the clandestine nature of the trip, but in an interview with the Cape Breton Post on Tuesday he made no apologies for the secrecy surrounding the trade mission.
“Whatever the frustrations that people have, we have to honour the rules of the marketplace while at the same time trying to adhere to the rules and procedures of government,” said Clarke.
“It’s a dual challenge and it’s one that doesn’t come without
a heavy burden for someone like myself who took on the authority of council to go and market and develop the port.”
For Clarke, the Beijing mission also included meetings involving Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking and former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, the container port project’s international adviser and a highly respected figure in China, both of whom were part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal trade delegation to the world’s most populous nation.
“Trust is important, trust is everything — the presence of government officials confirms the relationships and further builds a trust that solidifies the support and shows the cohesiveness, collaboration and support behind Novaporte (container port) and Novazone (logistics park),” he said.
“If we weren’t out there marketing this on behalf of the municipality, we wouldn’t be talking about a port at all because we wouldn’t be in the game.”
In discussing the China trip some 10 days after its completion, Clarke referred to the experience as “dynamic.” And he added that while he must still refrain from releasing details, he is at liberty to announce that he was signatory to what he called a commercially sensitive agreement.
“I signed as a witness to what is a very positive agreement that will provide more activity related to the development of the port — it will be announced by those partners on their timeline because of the commercial sensitivities,” said Clarke.
“I can say that, as a result of that, we will be welcoming a working group of both the Sydney Harbour Investment Partnership (the firm with exclusive marketing rights for the Port of Sydney) and their international partners, who will be coming in the early New Year to Sydney as part of the followup to that agreement and what it represents in terms of development of the container terminal.”
The mayor also confirmed that the issue of land-based transportation, specifically the railway, is a major concern of the project’s Chinese partners.
“The connectivity by train is really critical, so that piece is being worked on in greater detail in commercial terms and there is a large working effort on the rail component that is critical to our success — all the players are at the table and they are talking,” said Clarke.
“But none of them will talk publicly about it — it’s not about being secret, but these are very sensitive trade relations and we know there are competitors in the market anxiously waiting to figure out what the game plan is so that they can work and manoeuver around and use that intelligence against you.”
He also noted that it’s important for foreign investors to know that all levels of government are onside with the project.
And while Clarke reiterated earlier statements that he’s optimistic good news is forthcoming in early 2018, he said the next stage of the process requires provincial action on three fronts — tax concessions, tax abatement and approval on a 99-year lease provision that will allow the CBRM to maintain future control over the site.
Clarke also indicated that the CBRM, which has played a significant role in port development since it purchased the Greenfield site for $6 million in 2012, expects to relinquish the lead role once a port deal has been finalized.
“Once an investment decision is triggered for the development of the port, it is our First Nations partners who will become the lead in terms of Novazone,” he said.
The first phase of construction on the logistics park will be on a 250-acre tract of land that was recently transferred from Ottawa to the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs.
The container port (Novaporte) is being designed to accommodate ultra-large, 18,000-plus TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) container vessels.