b'18American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comKey Canadian container ports engage public in sustainableCANADA PORTS 2022expansion plansCanadasmajorcontainerportsonbothcoasts eyeing expansion.By Leo Ryan, AJOTOnboththeeastandand better public access to the westcoastsofCanada,portPortofMontrealsfacilities officialshavenotallowedand the St. Lawrence River.currentglobaldownwardAsfarasinnovation economictrendstoalterisconcerned,Mr.Imbleau ambitious,long-termexpan- placesgreatimportanceon sionplans.Apriority,too,linkingtheinnovationproj-remainssocialandenviron- ectslaunchedatthePortof mental acceptability for whatMontrealwiththeactual could be broadly categorizedneedsofusersinthefield, as desired maritime gatewaysnotably truck drivers and rail-of tomorrow. way companies.Last year saw Montreals P ort ofM ontreaL container throughput bounce Canadassecond-biggestbackto1.7millionTEUs, port and container hub on therepresenting a 7.3% increase EastCoastthispastspring(PLANScontinued on launchedafirstinitshis- page 19) Port of Montreal has been increasing dialogue with the public on its expansion plans. tory.Itspecificallyinvited the Montreal public to speak their minds about the future of the Port and to share their vision, suggestions and ideas aboutaninstitutionthat has been anchored in their daily lives for nearly 200 years.Organizedaroundfour mainthemes-theenviron-ment,innovation,theecon-omy,andsociety-residents were handed a microphone to express their views. Port offi-cialssubsequentlyindicated they were very happy to get hundredsofcommentsthat willserveasinspirationto develop the ports next strate-gic plan, covering 2023-2027.How does port chief exec-utive Martin Imbleau see Mon-treal moving forward? On the economicfront,hepointsto two main areas of focus. The first concerns business conti-nuity. In a context marked by global supply difficulties, it is up to the Port of Montreal to takethenecessarymeasures to ensure the flow of goods at all times and act as a facilita-torinthesupplychain.The second area of focus is chang-ing trends and practices. The importanceofthecircular economyandlocalsourcing willinfluencewhichgoods pass through the Port.As a pillar of the Quebec economy, the Port of Tomor-row must be able to adapt to changingneedstofulfilits core mission sustainably.Theenvironment,Mr. Imbleaunotes,posesmany concerns,suchasreducing GHGs, protecting biodiversity and being able to deal with nat-ural disasters, which are among the mission-critical targets for the Port of Tomorrow.On the social front, it was deemed especially important toreconcilethePortscom-mercialandindustrialrole with the need to connect with the community. Many mem-bers of the public emphasized sustainabledevelopmentof thePortshistoricheritage'