Prince Rupert Port Authority
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The Prince Rupert Port Authority (PRPA) is a port authority operating as a not-for-profit Crown corporation of the Government of Canada. PRPA has responsibility for all federally owned waterfront properties on Prince Rupert Harbour, located in and around the city of Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia.
The PRPA was created on May 1, 1999 and succeeds the Prince Rupert Port Corporation (PRPC). Prince Rupert was among 8 national ports in Canada which implemented this administrative change on this date, as required by the Canada Marine Act which passed on June 11, 1998. PRPC was previously the successor to the National Harbours Board, which operated all federally owned ports in Canada.
PRPA reports to the Minister of Transport and has a Board of Directors typically consisting of local business and community figures. In the past, the appointment process to the boards of Canada's port authorities has been criticized as they have frequently been used for political patronage.
PRPA port facilities include:
- Atlin Terminal
- Northlands Terminal
- Lightening Dock
- Ocean Dock
- Westview Dock
- Fairview Terminal
- Prince Rupert Grain
- Ridley Terminals
- Sulphur Corporation
All PRPA facilities are serviced by CN Rail.
[edit] History
The Port of Prince Rupert was built upon the completion of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1914 and its development had been promoted by Grand Trunk Railway president Charles Melville Hays as an alternative to the Port of Vancouver, which was serviced by the Canadian Pacific and Canadian Northern railways.
In 1919, the Grand Trunk Pacific fell into bankruptcy and was nationalized by the federal government and merged into the Canadian National Railways (CNR). The port was expanded during World War II to support Canadian and United States military action in the Pacific Theatre, notably in the Alaska Territory. In 1975, the federal government declared the Port of Prince Rupert a "National Harbour", followed by several years of construction of various facilities such as the Fairview Terminal and Ridley Terminals.
In 2005, it was announced that the Fairview Terminal would be converted into an intermodal container shipping terminal, given Prince Rupert's advantages of having a location along the Great Circle Route between Asia and the west coast of North America which makes it the first inbound and last outbound port of call, as well as having the deepest natural harbour depths on the continent.
