Fred Davies appointed to Parliament’s transport committee

MP Fred Davies–whose Niagara South riding consists of Port Colborne, Thorold, Welland and Fort Erie–was appointed Tuesday to the House of Commons committee that studies federal transportation and infrastructure laws.

The Conservative MP said he would use the seat to hold Ottawa to account on Wharf 18, a federally owned dock at the southern end of the Welland Canal in Port Colborne that has been out of service for nearly 20 years.

“I am looking forward to taking a permanent seat at the table to open the floor to discussing these issues further and holding the government to account for both my community and communities across Canada,” Davies said in a news release.

The federal government announced $22.7 million in 2023 to repair the wharf, but only if another funder, such as the Seaway or a private company, matched the money.

No partner had matched it by late July, when Davies wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney and Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon asking Ottawa to pay the full cost.

In July, Davies called the 2023 announcement “mostly smoke and mirrors.”

He said a St. Lawrence Seaway official confirmed at the transport committee that neither Transport Canada nor the Seaway planned to put money into the wharf, and he warned the funding could be lost.

Davies received his appointment at the committee’s closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon in Parliament’s West Block. The meeting continued the committee’s study of how to support and modernize Canada’s ports.

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