The new Mayor in Port Colborne wants to see the canal wall repaired.
Bill Steele was sworn in last night along with the rest of the new city council.
Today, he is calling on the St. Lawrence Seaway to repair the west wall of the canal from Kent Street all the way down to the old Maple Leaf Mills.
Steele says the Seaway has been asking businesses to ramp up and for that to continue there needs to be some work done, "look you can't come into Port Colborne and tell our businesses that you need to be busier, you gotta bring in more commodities without working on our west wall. It just goes hand in hand. If you want the canal to be busier we are here to work with you, lets get this wall fixed."
He adds, "you have Snider Dock Services, you have Port Colborne Quarries stone dock expanding for more commodities coming in. The St Lawrence Seaway has come down to the two entities and said hey guys you got to get busier, come on we need to open more dock space. So both those entities are expanding along the canal wall and getting busier."
The issue of port space in the area is a hot topic for areas looking to expand. Steele says that one of the keys to this term of council is to focus on growing the "port" portion of Port Colborne.
"The port of Hamilton is basically full, they have no more room for expansion. The talk out there is the new port of Niagara. I think that bodes Port Colborne very well."