Port AGM provides important information but needs more transparency, says councillor
The first year of operation for the new Port of Sydney Development Corp. involved a steep learning curve, its chair said after its inaugural annual general meeting Wednesday.
Jerry Gillis said in an interview the port had a dedicated board interested in growing the port.
“There are lots of elements in play,” he said. “When I first came on the board, I think we all had our doubts about these new initiatives that are happening but we can actually see a lot of groundwork is happening and hopefully it all falls in place.”
During the meeting, the port’s financial statements, capital and operating budgets were outlined and its strategic plan was updated.
But while they appreciated the information what was presented, at least a couple of CBRM councillors were disappointed by what the meeting did not offer.
CEO Marlene Usher told the meeting that a risk assessment, which needs to be carried out every five years, was not ready to be presented. Instead, she said, it would be ready within a couple of months.
“We spent the day with them going through potential risks of the port and mitigation strategies and likeliness of occurrences and it’s been a very, very useful exercise,” Usher said.
Both Dist. 6 Coun. Ray Paruch and Dist. 2 Coun. Earlene MacMullin said they were awaiting the chance to see the risk assessment.
“That part was missing, so that was a little disappointing, because we almost had the full package there,” said MacMullin.
MacMullin added she would like to see a member of the board appear before council when the assessment is ready, to answer any questions they may have.
Paruch said he appreciated the responses that were offered to councillors’ questions but wished the venue could have been more public.
The meeting was publicly advertised but only attracted a couple of people. Paruch said scheduling an AGM for a Wednesday morning is not the best way to encourage participation. Instead, he suggested an appearance at a public council meeting could help engage people interested in the port for next year.
“The questions were answered, these people were knowledgeable and that stuff, and I give them full marks for that, but they need a few lessons on public accountability and public transparency,” he said.
“They’re well-intentioned but they need a little help.”
MacMullin said she was impressed by the governance shown by the new board.
“All the numbers are coming up, it is totally positive, they seem to have a plan set forward,” she said.
Gillis said there will be another busy year ahead, with construction of the second cruise ship berth due to begin.
“Considerable time was spent in trying to put a proper strategic plan together so that we know where we want to take the port,” he said. “The next steps will actually be developing an implementation plan listing all of our objectives and activities and putting proper milestones against them.”
Usher said that, with the coming of second berth, they will now start to market it as they speak with cruise lines.
“We weren’t marketing for it in terms of increased traffic, because we didn’t want to market and then say we weren’t available,” she said.
The port has received a oneyear extension to its agreement with Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to costshare CEO Marlene Usher’s wage and benefit package. The agreement was due to expire March 31.
“It all comes down to budgetary reasons,” Gillis said, on the one-year extension.