Shadow Minister takes tour at Wheatley Harbour

By Mark Ribble

WHEATLEY — Chatham-Kent Leamington Member of Parliament Dave Epp was joined by fellow MP and Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, Rick Perkins, last week as they met with Wheatley Harbourmaster Steve Derbyshire and Hike Metal Chief Operating Officer Steve Ingram.

An initial meeting with Derbyshire at the Harbour office shed light on some of the issues facing the commercial fishing fleet, such as erosion issues, wharf conditions and ongoing dredging of the harbour entrance.

In the background, a large excavator sat atop a giant hill of sand, pulling scoop after scoop of Lake Erie sand from the shoreline along the pier.

The sight of the excavator prompted a discussion with MP Perkins and MP Epp about the yearly dredging that has to be done there to maintain operations.

According to Derbyshire, the dredging is done on a continual yearly basis and fills in just as quickly as it is hauled away.

Wheatley Harbourmaster Steve Derbyshire, left, speaks with MP Dave Epp and the shadow Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, Rick Perkins about the dredging of Wheatley Harbour.

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The Wheatley pier, built in 1952, is in ill-repair and Derbyshire is concerned about its condition, as sections continue to deteriorate.

Studies are being done to determine the effectiveness of the mitigation that is going on at the harbour, but Derbyshire feels it won’t change anything.

Perkins and Epp made some suggestions and promised to look into the matter.

Over at Hike Metal, Chief Operating

Officer Steve Ingram welcomed the two representatives to his plant and a brief discussion ensued about the work being done at Hike. A tour of the plant was held with the MPs seeing first-hand the amount of work that goes into shipbuilding on the Great Lakes.

MPs Rick Perkins, left and Dave Epp, right, listen while Hike Metal COO Steve Ingram explains the shipbuilding process on the Great Lakes and the work that is being done at Hike.

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Although Ingram indicated that there is a lot of red tape and hoops to jump through with regard to government contracts, he’s happy with the current contract they have with the Canadian Coast Guard.

“Life here at Hike is good,” he said. “We have good people and a good relationship with the Coast Guard.”

Ingram was also concerned about the harbour dredging.

“It’s like emptying a pipe at one end and filling it at the other,” he said.

According to Derbyshire, the depth of the water entering the harbour can be as shallow as four feet at certain times, which presents an issue for the commercial fishing tugs.

For Hike Metal’s purposes, they need at least six-and-a-half feet.

Hike Metal is currently working on the seventh and eighth Coast Guard Bay Class vessels in their contract and have boat number six in the harbour slip awaiting delivery to the Coast Guard this week. A ninth ship is awaiting materials.

After a brief tour of the Hike plant, the MPs, Ingram, Derbyshire and other harbour authority officials had lunch at Talbot Trail Golf Course, under the stellar service of Hilary “Lil Hil” Hyatt.