Churchill has potential

Re: Laying The Tracks For Prosperity In The North, Betsy Kennedy, July 8.

Chief Betsy Kennedy’s article on the need to upgrade the Bayline railway was bang on. The Port of Churchill was once a large export point for Western Canadian grain and it can, and should be again. With the longer shipping season in the Arctic and the need for Western Canada to develop other export opportunities for our grain and other natural resources (read: oil), the Port of Churchill is the ideal location.

It will take billions of dollars to upgrade the railroad and the port, but the longterm benefits to Canada far outweigh the cost. Shipping oil from Alberta to the Irving refinery in the East is far shorter through the Port of Churchill than through the Panama Canal and it has always been a shorter route to Europe.

As Kennedy said, it will provide long-term jobs for all

Northerners and if its true potential is reached, it will provide hundreds of good jobs in the North. David Jamieson, Red Deer, Alta.