By Leo Ryan, AJOTWhen Canada’s federal parliament resumes sitting on January 26, the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be presenting a budget that it hopes will overcome a serious challenge to power from the political opposition led by the Liberal Party. This budget is expected to contain an economic stimulus package, although it will be far removed from the giant infrastructure plan being conceived by US President-elect Barack Obama. Nevertheless, Canadian port, multimodal transportation executives and government officials are already working towards a central, long-term goal – transforming Canada into a gateway of choice for overseas shippers seeking the most efficient and competitively-priced means to penetrate the whole North American market. Whether such an ambitious objective represents reality remains to be seen in some cases, whereas there is evidence of potential success in others. From the west to the east coasts, various infrastructure projects are in progress or planned, involving billions of dollars of investments. For the most part, they are continuing in spite of the current recession that has spilled over into Canada from the United States. Starting with the West Coast, transportation professionals remain convinced that, following a cyclical global  downturn, the future still points to increased world trade driven by China-led Asia. Hence there has been little pause in the impressive infrastructure investments and projects aimed at strengthening Canada’s Pacific Gateway for the mounting North American trade with Asia. Indeed, there are many components to the so-called Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, now the most advanced of the gateway undertakings in the country. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has identified the huge challenge in these terms: “Canada should be the crossroads between the massive engine of the United States and the burgeoning economies of Asia.” Over the past five years, there has been a veritable explosion of Canadian trade with China. Between 2003 and 2007, the two-way commercial exchanges have more than doubled to C$47.5 billion. China has become Canada’s second biggest trading partner after the United States, with Canadian commodities feeding Chinese factories and containerized Chinese consumer goods flowing to Canadian retail outlets – with the bulk of this cargo handled by Port Metro Vancouver. According to a consultant’s report, Asia-Pacific container traffic is forecast to triple within two decades. The B.C. government has set a goal of boosting the province’s container business to 9 million TEUs by 2020 versus 2.3 million TEUs today. This would entail gaining market share against such US ports as Seattle, Tacoma and Long Beach. In an interview, Ruth Sol, President of the Western Transportation Advisory Council (Westac) in Vancouver, suggested that “the corridor and gateway programs are a proxy for what is happening in the national system. There has been a tremendous positive impact in western Canada, where investment is strategic in nature.” On the other hand, Sol acknowledged that increased delays at the Canada-US border do not boost the gateway concept. This past September, funding worth up to C$40 million was announced for five West Coast shortsea shipping and two road projects in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. The federal government, through the Transportation Infrastructure Fund under the Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor program, will pitch in just over C$20 million and the rest is to come from private sector service providers and municipalities in the region. Among other features is the construction of barge docks and ramps at the Vanterm and Deltaport container terminals at Port Metro Vancouver, Canada’s largest port. Using the barge docks, the terminals will be able to shuttle containers by barge to and from the Fraser River. MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS Last year, the Ottawa authorities announced more than C$490 million in federal funding f