Russia to Fund Fixed Link

Earlier this week Bloomberg reported that Russia is planning to build the world’s longest tunnel across the Bering Strait to Alaska. According to the report which was brought to my attention by a strong supporter of Newfoundland and Labrador issues (and no he’s not from the province) the tunnel will form part of a massive corridor intended to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia.

The tunnel will cost an estimated $10 to $12 billion dollars and will form part of a 6,000 kilometer , $60 billion dollar, rail transport corridor from Siberia to Alaska, through Canada and into the U.S. heartland. Russian officials hope to formally present the plan to U.S. and Canadian governments next week.

The undersea tunnel portion of the project will be constructed under some of the most inhospitable waters in the world and contain a high-speed railway, pipelines, power lines and fiber-optic cables.

The project envisions building high-voltage power lines inside the tunnel to supply the new rail links and also for export to North America. In addition to the ability to move resources, “The transit (people) link is that string on which all our industrial cluster projects could hang,'' a spokesman said. It is believed this corridor will go far in resolving the economic woes of Siberia, a land that has been cut off from much of the world throughout its existence.

Does any of this sound the least bit familiar anyone? Well if it doesn’t it sure should.

For decades people in Newfoundland, also an isolated land with massive untapped resource potential, have lobbied for a tunnel or some other form of fixed link between the island portion of the province and mainland Canada. For just as long, the idea has been brushed aside as unnecessary, unfeasible or simply laughable. Despite this the government of Canada will soon be deciding whether or not to work with Russia and the U.S. to build a much longer, more expensive and more environmentally challenging link between those two nations.

Boy it sure would be nice if government would stop to consider linking all Canada’s province’s before getting involved in international links on this scale.

The distance from Newfoundland to Labrador, on the mainland, is far shorter than the proposed tunnel envisioned in the Russian venture, far less expensive to build and just like Siberia, the province is rich in electrical energy, oil, gas and minerals. It also has the economic woes that come with isolation, including great difficulty getting the province’s gas and abundant electrical energy to market.

Some may say that the Russian venture is different because it won’t cost Canada anything to develop, after all the Russians intend to pay for it. They’d be wrong.

Indeed there is no intention to ask Canada for funding but it’s clear that if Russia is willing to fund such a massive project to build an oil/gas and electricity corridor to markets in the U.S. then they expect a solid return on that investment. Why then can’t the Canadian government see the financial potential of linking resource rich Newfoundland to the rest of the Country and how much revenue will be lost because they refuse to do it?

A fully costed plan for a Newfoundland and Labrador fixed link, very similar to the Russian one, has already been developed by local engineer, Tom Kierans.

Mr. Kierans’, who helped design the Upper Churchill power plant, has been trying in vain to promote this project for years. His pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Like the Russian plan, the Kierans’ design also includes a rail line, oil/gas pipelines and electrical distribution capability that would power the transportation link and deliver power to market. Go figure.

Now in his 90’s its doubtful Mr. Kierans will be able to continue tilting against this particular windmill for too many more years. It’s a shame.

After decades of laughing off the so called “stupid idea” of a fixed link inside Canada I wonder what the reaction will be when this new Russian venture is tabled next week. Somehow I expect the proponents of the plan won’t get quite the same condescending reaction out of Ottawa as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have received.

I also suspect that an agreement, quietly reached in the House of Commons a couple of weeks ago, to “form a committee to examine the potential for a Newfoundland and Labrador tunnel” was nothing more than a pre-emptive attempt by Ottawa to soften the province’s position for when the Russian plan is formally presented.

I guess the more things change the more they stay the same.