Gateway Strategy

Federal Support Needed for Gateway to Shine

Author(s): Alexandra Ho

Published: November 12, 2009  

Op-Ed

Ottawa's Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative is developing according to plan and British Columbia has an opportunity to finally realize its own ambitious Asia Pacific vision. The $1-billion investment in infrastructure upgrades and expansion announced by the federal government in 2006 serves as a signal to both the Asia Pacific and other West Coast gateways that Canada is serious about capitalizing on the growing economic relationship between Asia and North America. 

An increase in container traffic at northern BC's Prince Rupert at a time when all other West Coast ports have reported a steep decline in business is one early sign of success. However, the competition from US rivals is stiff and constantly evolving, making the road ahead far from certain.

The biggest challenge may be that BC's grand vision for the Asia Pacific Gateway cannot be accomplished on its own. It must bring others—including the federal government—on board to fulfill its goal of becoming more than just a transportation gateway.

The Asia Pacific Gateway means different things to different people. In BC, it is interpreted broadly to include people flows, development of service industries, marketing and branding efforts, bilateral and regional trade and investment opportunities, education and cultural exchange. These parts of the gateway are reflected in the province's Asia Pacific Initiative, whose pillars include developing a workforce with "Pacific Century Skills" and Asia Pacific Gateway culture. The vision is to build on geographic assets and APGCI investments to establish BC as Asia's gateway to North America and vice versa. These goals are both admirable and ambitious.

For starters, kinks in the APGCI transportation network still need to be resolved. The risk of labour unrest and other "inconveniences" remain a real concern to many shippers, threatening the competitiveness of the gateway and corridor strategy. Efforts to mitigate and address these risks will take both time and a tremendous amount of political goodwill among organized labour, employers and federal regulatory agencies.

Further, BC's quest to become more than just a transportation gateway will need the support and co-operation of all stakeholders, including other provinces, the federal government and industry. Success depends on regulatory frameworks that facilitate the flow of goods, people and capital through the gateway. Control over areas such as air services, foreign affairs and international trade agreements fall outside its jurisdiction and within the realm of the federal government, which must balance provincial and national interests.

For example, air services policy is overseen by Transport Canada. Some believe that Canada's restrictive air policy limits the ability of BC to grow as an air gateway for both transpacific air cargo and passengers. The cases of Singapore Airlines and Emirates Air, which have both been denied increased flights to Canada, have been widely reported in the media.

To advance a discussion on the gateway benefits of a more open-air services policy, BC, in partnership with Saskatchewan and Alberta, organized an Open Skies Conference in Vancouver in September to discuss opportunities and roadblocks. They invited representatives from major international airlines, the federal government, the local airline industry and tourism agencies and businesses. This was a commendable effort to raise awareness and facilitate a constructive dialogue; however, it remains to be seen if and how this will deliver a beneficial outcome for BC's gateway development.

BC has also proposed the creation of an Asia Pacific Gateway Authority to improve internal communications and planning between all gateway players across the Western provinces. The government noted in its throne speech that it would pursue the creation of this coordinating body with the federal government. However, Transport Canada is the lead department for the APGCI and the creation of the authority will ultimately need its blessing, participation and leadership.

These two examples show areas where the provincial government is willing to provide leadership to develop the gateway but has limited authority to make it happen. The challenge is to garner enough public and stakeholder support on key issues and to find common ground between its holistic conception of the gateway economy and the strictly transport-focused national view.

At the industry level, there appears to be a buzz about what the gateway means for Canada and BC. Most have a rudimentary knowledge of the gateway and understand that it represents opportunities for greater business and trade interactions with the Asia Pacific.

This optimism is not without reason. BC's relationship with Asia has grown stronger over the past few years, with at least 10 ministerial delegations and three visits by the premier to key Asian trading partners in two years. BC has also organized five major business missions and received almost 40 incoming delegations from China alone since 2008.

In trade terms, BC's exports to Asia as a proportion of total exports increased five percentage points between 2006 and 2008 while imports fell three percentage points in the same period. The Asian share of BC exports is up from 23 per cent in 2003 to over 30 per cent last year.

These statistics show promise but must be bolstered by foreign policy and international trade initiatives, such as strong bilateral relations and trade and investment agreements, to facilitate a greater flow of goods, capital and people through the Asia Pacific Gateway. BC can only do so much to realize its vision of becoming an Asia Pacific Gateway. It must bring about federal-provincial co-operation on some sticky issues to support its vision of becoming the preferred Asia Pacific Gateway in North America.

Alexandra Ho is a project manager at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. An edited version of this article appeared in The Embassy on November 11, 2009.